Gundam SEED: Tales of Mjolnir
by Navek
Summary: AU. When the neutral colony Heliopolis is attacked by ZAFT, a ragtag group must come together. With a new flagship and two cutting edge mobile suits, a mobile suit team must fight to survive if they are to end the war between NATO and the PLANTs.
1. Chapter 1

_Year 70 of the Cosmic Era. Tensions were mounting between Earth and the ZAFT Organization. Due to the Bloody Valentine Tragedy and the April Fools Crisis, these tensions suddenly escalated into a full scale war. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the nations of Earth, with its superior numbers, would be victorious. But these initial assessments proved to be false. Almost 11 months have passed since the conflict began with no end in sight._

_Phase 1: False Peace_

_Heliopolis..._

All was calm in the Orb colony. People were going about their day. In the air, a mechanical bird was flying through the artificial wind. It passed over several buildings and factories, one of which was in the process of handling precious cargo.

Several workers were loading a large cloaked object onto a flatbed truck. Two people were talking. One was an adult engineer. The other was a young man with fair skin, brown scruffy hair and green eyes. He wore goggles on his forehead, a black t-shirt, a pair of dog tags around his neck, jeans shorts, black & white sneakers and black fingerless gloves. (Voice: Johnny Yong Bosch) On the ground was a small green ball with a curved mouth, red eyes and ear flaps. (Voice: Niki Yang)

"Are you sure about this?" One of the workers asked.

"Of course." The young man said. "With the ZAFT fleet nearby, I'd feel safer if I oversaw the transfer myself."

"Why not just keep it with the other prototypes?"

"And risk losing my pride and joy? No way."

"_Not gonna happen." _The green ball said.

"Thank you Haro."

The staff member sighed. "If that's you want Mr. Hudson."

"Just call me Zeke." The young man said as Haro followed him (by rolling) to the truck.

The robot bird flew toward a pavilion where a young man known as Kira Yamato was working on his laptop. He had brown hair, purple eyes and wore a dark-blue dress shirt with a collar with beige pants and black shoes. On his laptop was schematics for a machine while the TV in the quad played a report on a ZAFT invasion.

"_The refugee camp in South Africa has been suffering from a chronic storage of food and relief supplies, endangering the life of 1.2 million people."_

The bird landed on top of the laptop. "_Birdy." _The young man smiled from seeing his robotic companion.

"_These images from the Kaohsiung spaceport show that heavy fighting is in progress. Now according to information just received, ZAFT has advanced to areas within six kilometers of Kaohsiung." _

"Kira!" A voice called out. Two teens walked toward Kira. They were Tolle Koenig and his girlfriend Miriallia Haw. "So this is where you're hanging out." Tolle said. "Professor Kato's been trying to get a hold of you."

"What? Again?"

"He asked us to bring you to him right away." Miriallia said. "Well? Are you assisting him on something else?"

"Too much." The young man replied. "I still haven't even finished going through the stuff I he dumped on me yesterday."

Tolle walked toward Kira and looked at the laptop. "Some development in the news?"

"Yeah. Taiwan apparently."

"_I'm within seven kilometers of Kaohsiung, where the sounds of fierce combat continue to echo." _In the background were the screams of people and bullets flying.

"If this is footage from last week, they must have already taken over Kaohsiung." Tolle said.

"Yeah." Kira said grimly as he turned off his laptop.

"Kaohsiung isn't very far from us, is it?" Mir asked. "Will the homeland be alright?"

"_Birdy!" _The robot bird flew away.

"Sure. There's nothing to worry about." Tolle responded. "Oh they're close by, but our nation's neutral. Can't see Orb turning into a war zone."

"Really? Then I guess we're okay."

As Birdy flew through the air, Kira eyes became distant as he remembered the friend who gave him the mechanical bird.

"Kira?" Tolle said. The young techie snapped out of his trance and backed up in surprise. "What's up with you anyway? Let's go."

The young couple walked away as Kira got back up and gathered his things. "Um, yeah sure."

_Colony Hangar..._

"_Axis adjusted right. 6.51. Entry vectries good. Breaking Jets disengaged. Transferring control to Electromagnetic bucket. Deceleration at 2.56. Commence Dock. Standby."_

A Marseille III class-ship and two Drake-class ships docked into the hangar.

"There you have it." The middle-aged captain said as he let his hat drift in zero gravity. "This old ship has just completed her final mission. You served admirably as escorts, Lieutenant La Flaga and Chief Warrant Officer Slade. I am in your debt."

In front of the captain was the Hawk of Endymion himself, Mu La Flaga. Floating next to him was a young woman with black curly hair, purple eyes and fair skin. She wore the same uniform as La Flaga, but in a darker color. (Voice: Michelle Ruff) Their uniforms bore a blue symbol with a white star.

"Sir, I'm just glad we arrived without an incident." Mu said.

"Although maybe running into ZAFT would have made things more interesting." Warrant Officer Slade said with a childlike smile.

"Speaking of which, any ZAFT vessels in the vicinity?" Mu asked.

"We've spotted four, but its no cause for alarm." The captain said. "They know they can't engage in any hostile action once we've docked."

"Hm. Because its neutral territory? What a joke." La Flaga said.

Slade's smile disappeared. "We're putting a lot of innocent civilians at risk just by showing up."

"Look its because of Orb that our plans have progressed this far. We're fortunate that NATO has recognized Orb as a nation."

"Excuse us Captain." One of the five men on the bridged said. They saluted and the Captain saluted back. The five men floated out of the bridge.

"Think they can handle themselves alone on the ground?" Mu asked.

"I know they're all young. But they're all top guns selected to be G-Pilots. They'll be just fine. However, someone like you would stick out like a sore thumb."

Mu chuckled a little and Slade giggled. "Don't worry Lieutenant, you've already made your mark."

"_However, I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen." _

A few kilometer away, three Laurasia-class ships and Nazca-class were hiding behind a meteor. Two smaller ships were launched. On the deck of the Nazca class was a man known as the infamous white coat Rau Le Creuset.

"Try not to look so frustrated Adas." The masked man said.

"Well I don't imagine it'll be too late if we hear back from the council at least." Adas said.

"It will be too late." Rau said as he grabbed a picture and pushed it toward Adas. "I have a sixth sense about these things. If we don't seize the moment now, later we'll pay with our lives for our reluctance to take action. NATO's new mobile weapons. We must secure them before they attempt to move them."

Outside, the transport ships landed on the rock end of Heliopolis, deploying airbags for a safe landing.

Inside, several people were waiting at the auto-valet for their cars. Three girls were having a conversation.

"I'm totally serious. Its nothing like that." The girl in all pink known as Flay Allster said.

"Yeah?"

"You're lying. You should just come out and admit it." The two girls giggled. Kira, Mir and Tolle walked to the auto-valet and saw the red-haired girl.

"I told you." The red-haired girl giggled. She turned with a smile. "Miriallia."

"Hi." Mir said with a friendly smile with Kira and Tolle behind her.

"I bet ya you know Miriallia." One of the girls said.

"Know what?"

"Come on. Stop it." Flay asked.

"She got a letter from Sai Argyle, but she claims nothings going on. And she refuses to dish out anything at all, right?"

Kira was shocked by this due to the crush he had on the girl in question. The girls started laughing as the red-haired girl started to get ticked. Behind them, a woman with short black hair and sunglasses was walking with two men behind her. She cleared her throat and got the teen's attention.

"If you're not getting in, you mind if I do?" She asked.

"Oh we're sorry." Tolle said. "Please." He and Kira moved out of the way as the woman and the two men walked toward the cars. When she passed, Flay turned toward her friends with a mad expression.

"What's the big deal anyway?" She turned around in a huff. "Let's go."

"Wait up."

The three girls got into a car and drove off, leaving Kira, Tolle and Mir by themselves.

"Well how about that Sai?" Tolle said with a smirk. "He wrote to her."

"Huh?" Kira said confused.

"To Flay Allster no less. What a total shock and surprise." He put his hands on Kira's shoulders. "Look's like you have some competition Kira Yamato. Good luck." He walked away as Mir followed him while giggling.

"But.. really... I'm not..."

As cars speed through the colony highway, the woman from before looked around as one of the men drove. "Just look around this place. Its so peaceful." She took off her glasses and revealed her grey eyes. "To think that there are all already people as young as them fighting on the front line."

The car passed the mall in the distance. In the mall, a crowd was gathered at the arcade. Two young adults were facing other as they moved their controllers. The man of Japanese descent had brown hair with bangs and brown eyes. He wore a blue hoodie and jeans. (Voice: Jason Marsden) His opponent was a short woman. She had black hair in a braid on her right side and orange eyes. She wore a gray t-shirt and jeans. (Voice: Wendee Lee) On the screen in front of them, a samurai swung his katana at a ninja only for the ninja to jump and land on the blade. The ninja tried to kick the samurai but the armored warrior raised a fist and punched the ninja back. The ninja got back up and pulled three kunais in each hand. The two virtual warriors stared down each other just like their real-world controllers were doing.

"You're pretty good, little lady." The man said.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." The woman said.

"Wasn't planning on it." And with that, the fight began anew.

Outside, several ZAFT troops in spacesuits were descending onto the meteor end of the colony. The shaft opened and revealed a series of infrared lights. A red coat looked at his wristwatch. It beeped and the lasers turned off. The soldiers traveled down into the shaft.

Meanwhile, Kira and his friends arrived at Professor Kato's lab.

"Kira. You finally made it." Sai said. Kira turned toward his right and saw a blond girl with a tomboy look to her. She wore a brown trench coat and a hat. She had a stern expression.

The ZAFT soldiers arrived at a secret hangar and saw a white ship with red outlines. One of the red coats gave some hand signals and the soldiers floated in different directions. They set explosives all around the hangar in places where workers would never find them. The bombs were set to go off in ten minutes.

"Did you finish the program?" Sai asked.

"You know it." Kira said with a smirk as he pulled out a flash-drive. "This the movement problem we've been having with the frame."

"That's awesome!" Tolle said. "You know Kira, sometimes I think we'd be completely lost without you."

"They don't call him the best programmer in Heliopolis for nothing." Mir commented as Kira blushed from the praise.

As Kira and his friends were talking, the blond girl walked toward Professor Kato's office. She tried to open the door but it was locked.

"Its time." Rau said.

"Weigh anchor. Vesalius launch!" Adas ordered. The ship ignited it engines.

Alarms went off all over the colony hangar.

"Heliopolis here. Approaching ZAFT vessels, please respond. ZAFT vessels, please respond!" A hangar worker in the traffic control room said as the Chief controller floated up to him.

"Calm down now. Cut off the alarm!" He grabbed the headset. "Issuing a warning to approaching ZAFT vessels."

On the bridge of the Vesalius, all the crew could hear was vague words through static.

"Electrical interference. Emanating from the ZAFT vessel. Sir, this is clearly a hostile act."

The hangar of the Vesalius opened up. A GINN got into launching position and floated. The lines of the launch bay turned green. The sign changed from a red abort to a green launch. The GINN blasted into space as the cable disengaged from its back. Four more GINNs followed.

"Enemies?" Mu asked.

"Four vessels. One Nazca and three Laurasia class. Confirmed mobile suits, launching prior to jamming of communications."

"Well let's go scrap them!" Slade floated out of the room in a purple pilot suit. Mu was in a suit of the same color. The difference was that Slade's helmet didn't cover her mouth or have feathers on it.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Mu said as he followed her.

"Launch all mobile forces! Upgrade to condition red!" The captain ordered.

In the secret hangar, a crew in white uniforms were in an observation bay.

"Don't panic. If we overreact we'll be playing right into their hands." The captain said. "Let Heliopolis deal with this situation."

The workers started loading the red & white ship as the timer for the bombs were at four minutes. The ZAFT soldiers flew through the corridors undetected.

"Yes I know." The Captain said over the phone. "We're prepared to launch if we have to." He hung up and turned toward his crew. "Get Lieutenant Ramius for me. Commence transfer of the G-Weapons."

One of the soldiers was the woman black-haired woman from earlier. "Sir." She saluted and moved out.

The fourteen GINNs flew closer and closer toward the colony.

"We're moving once we take out the mining area." Rau said.

"Yes Sir."

Five Moebius units flew out from the colony hangar.

Everyone in Heliopolis was going about like nothing was happening. Zeke was driving the truck in Haro next to him. Kira and his friends were working on an experimental rescue frame in Kato's lab. Flay and her friends were shopping. The two rivals were going all out in their video game fight.

Near the Morgenroete labs, several large trucks were being moved. Coordinating the transfer was a large burly man in his late fortes. He had experienced brown eyes and white hair. The most prominent feature was the scar that ran down the left side of his face. Unlike the other workers, his uniform was cobalt were the orange colors would be. (Voice: Clancy Brown)

"Get X-105 and X-303 to the ship." He ordered. "If you damage anything, its coming out of your paychecks!"

"Yes sir!"

The timers on the bombs reached zero. All around the secret hangar, explosions went off, killing many workers and soldiers, including the captain. Natarle and her fellow soldiers were blown back by smoke coming down the corridor.

Inside the colony, it felt like an earthquake.

"A meteoroid?" Sai asked.

Zeke hit the brakes and stopped before the truck turned.

"_What was that?" _Haro asked.

"Whatever it is, it can't be anything good." Zeke replied.

In the colony hangar, La Flaga and Slade got into their respective units. Mu's was a Moebius Zero, a mass-produced mobile armor built by the European Union. Slade's unit was a mobile suit that was the same size as ZAFT's GINN. Most of its body was painted dark green while its face, hands and fleet were gray and the cockpit was orange. It held a 90mm machine gun in its left hand, a shield in its left hand and hand a sheathed weapon on its left hip. This was the NMS-063 Minuteman, the main mobile suit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO for short.

_"All Zeros and Minutemen, launch immediately!__" _

"Launch the ship. The harbor's about to be taken over." Mu buckled up.

"Time to go to work." Slade said as she put on her helmet and the glass slide up.

Four Moebius Zeros and four Minutemen detached from the two escort ships. Some of the NATO machines had two weapons on it back with a needle at the tip. They opened fire but the GINNs dodged the bullets and fired back. The remaining three Zeroes, Slade's Minuteman and the Marseille III launched from the hangar. Five GINNs descended down into a shaft and fired on the control bays.

"Oh no you don't!" Slade flew down the same shaft and fired her machine gun at one of the GINNs, hitting the cockpit and killing the pilot before it exploded. "Four hostiles have entered the colony. Requesting aid for pursuit!"

"_Roger!" _

The green mobile flew through the smoke and continued to pursue the ZAFT machines. Two Zeros followed afterward.

Klaxons blared inside Heliopolis. The ZAFT soldiers stood on a hill and saw several large truck with mobile suits in them.

"That's it." The red coat with silver hair said. "Its exactly like Commander Le Creuset said.

"What? With the right amount of prodding they're sure to come out of their hole?" The tan soldier next to him said jokingly. "After all, the Naturals are stupid and pathetic."

"Seems they found the treasure chest." One of the GINN pilots said. "Sector S. Factory district 37."

"Roger. That's showing them Yzak. That didn't take ya long." Miguel Aiman said.

_Outside..._

A Zero launched its missiles at a GINN. The GINN dodged some bullets and destroyed the missiles. Another Zero was destroyed by the Vesalius' CIWS. Mu's Zero launched two of its gunbarrels and fired its linear gun. The GINN dodged the gunfire but the Zero flew past it and fired with its gunbarrels, blasting it into oblivion. A Minuteman fired at a GINN, destroying its leg. However, the mono-eyed machine pulled out its heavy sword and stabbed the mobile suit through the cockpit.

_Inside..._

"Commander, the ship isn't responding. Status unknown." One of the workers reported. The Commander growled.

"Looks like ZAFT found out about our little project." He grabbed a nearly duffel bag and pulled out an M32 Grenade Launcher and an MP7A1. "Gear up! We're probably in for a fight. Grab as many close-quarters weapons as you can carry!"

Suddenly, two GINNs flew overhead and fired. The commander moved out of the way as the winds blew over them.

"Mobile suits. That's just great." Prep X-105 and 303 for combat. Get them out of the factory district! Have all missile trucks in defense positions and arm every work loader! Let's make these bastards regret coming here!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

A few miles away, Slade's Minuteman was engaged in an aerial battle with a GINN. The Minuteman opened fire but the ZAFT machine dodged the bullets. It zoomed in and destroyed the enemies machine gun with its heavy sword. But the NATO suit wasn't done yet. It pulled out the hip-mounted weapon from its sheath. The weapon was a sword that glowed orange. The Minuteman charged at the GINN who tried to block with its shield, but the sword pierced the shield and the cockpit before pulled back as the ZAFT machine exploded. But before Slade could celebrate, another GINN approached from behind and fired at her Minuteman's back thrusters. This caused the green mobile suit malfunction and fly out of control. Believing its enemy to be done, the GINN flew away.

Zeke continued to drive his truck down the low road as the Minuteman flew over the truck and crashed into the grass field. Zeke pulled down his goggles and saw a heat signature in the cockpit.

"The pilot's still alive. We gotta help." Zeke put the truck in park and ran toward the downed mobile suit as Haro bounced after him. The two of them arrived but were surprised when cockpit opened by itself. The airbags had deployed and Slade got out of the Minuteman, tossing her helmet on the ground in frustration.

"Are you okay?" The mechanic asked.

"I'm fine." Slade responded. The young woman looked up and saw a Zero getting shot down by a GINN. "I need to get back in the fight."

"Not with your Minuteman in this condition." Zeke thought for a few seconds before an idea popped in his head. "I can help."

"What?" Slade turned. "Who are you?"

"My name is Ezekiel Hudson. Most people just call me Zeke. And I can give you something that will even the gap between you and the GINNs."

Two GINNs fired on some military trucks on the highway. In the labs, Kira's group ran through the corridor and found the emergency stairs. Sai opened the door and saw some people going up.

"What's this all about?" Sai asked.

"We're under attack by ZAFT. Some of their mobile suits have entered the colony. You'd better hurry too."

Kira noticed the blond girl run away from the group. Kira chased after her. An explosion from the outside shook the corridor.

"Kira!" Tolle yelled.

"I'll be right back!" He said as he followed the blond girl.

Two GINNs landed on the highway and destroyed more trucks. A soldier crouched on a rooftop with an M200 Sniper Rifle. She loaded the armor piercing round and set her scope on the mono-eyed sensors. She pulled the trigger, the bullet cracking the mono-eye.

"Shit! My main camera!" The pilot yelled. Three soldier armed with AT4 CS Rocket Launcher fired on the cockpit area, running as the mobile suit toppled over.

"Mikey!" The pilot's distraunt over his fallen comrade gave the armored convoy a chance to take out. A barrage of missiles bombarded the GINN, leaving it servery damaged and fallen over.

But before the soldiers could celebrate, a warhead destroyed the convoy as the ZAFT soldiers flew down and fired on the infantry.

"Destroy any parts we can't carry and the factories." Yzak ordered. "Intel indicates five of them. Are the other two still inside?"

"Rusty and I will continue. Yzak, you guys take these three." The soldier next to him said.

"Okay. Go for it." He turned toward the other soldiers. "If you're piloting one, disarm the self-destruct first." The soldiers landed and killed the infantry with ease. One the soldiers tossed a grenade into the corridor of a container and destroyed everyone in it while the mobile suit inside was undamaged.

Meanwhile, Zeke was working on his laptop and the carrier unfolded and the cloak came off.

Kira and the blond girl reached the outside of and saw two mobile suits in containers as the crew engaged in a firefight with the ZAFT soldiers.

"Hey those are.." Kira said.

The blond girl got down on her knees as her eyes started to water up. "I knew it. The NATO prototype mobile weapons. Father I knew you betrayed us all!"

Her cry got the attention of the commander. His instincts caused him to open fire on the two teens.

"Come on!" Kira grabbed her hand and the two ran, barely dodging bullets fired by the worker.

"Those were children?" The commander asked. Bullets bounced off the mobile suit he was on as he snapped back in attention. He grabbed his grenade launcher and fired, turning any ZAFT soldier into burnt meat.

"Crying won't help you." Kira said. "Come on now! Run!"

On the highway, one of the grey G-Weapons stood up. It held a rifle and a shield.

"Wow. Pretty impressive." Yzak said in the cockpit. "Dearka, hows yours?"

"Great." The tan soldier with blond hair said. "Update activated. Nerve links reconstructed. Calibration set. It'll move."

The second G-Weapon stood. This one had two rifles on its back.

"And Nicol?"

"Not yet. Almost there." The green-haired soldier said.

The third G-Weapon stood up.

"Where are Athrun and Rusty?" Dearka asked. "Taking their time."

"I don't think they'll have any trouble. Let's stick with the plan. We'll leave with these three." Yzak said. "Let's get them to Commander Creuset before they get damaged."

The boosters on the backs of the G-Weapons activated. The three grey mobile suits flew higher into the colony.

Slade sat in the cockpit of a mobile suit similar to the G-Weapons as Zeke and Haro initiated the start-up sequence.

"Are you sure this thing will let me be beat those GINNs?" She asked.

"_Well the combat data is in our favor but the reality depends on how you pilot it." _Zeke responded.

"_It's up to you!" _Haro said.

"Far enough. I like a challenge."

"_Alright that should do it. Activating OS. MBF-P04 Astray Green ready for battle." _

On the display screen of the cockpit, an acronym appeared.

**General****  
****Unilateral****  
****Neuro-link****  
****Dispersive****  
****Automatomic****  
****Maneuver system**

"Gun... dam." The warrant officer whispered.

"_Alright. Try standing up."_

"Roger." She gripped the controls.

"_By the way, I never got your name."_

"I'm Cassandra Slade. But feel free to call me Cassie." The two young adults smiled as the mobile suit stood up. Although it looked like a G-weapon, it was colored with a white outer body and green inner body. Its eyes glowed yellow as two GINNs saw it.

"_What is that?"_

"_I thought their was only five." _

"_Who cares. Our orders are to destroy anything we can't carry." _

"_Mobile suits detected!" _Haro yelled as Zeke and Cassie saw the approaching ZAFT machines.

"That's my Que." The green & white mobile suit ran toward the approaching machines. The GINNs opened fire but the Astray jumped into the air and spin kicked a GINN in the rib section, making the machine hit the ground. The Astray Green landed on it and fire its head-mounted CIWS and jumped off before the mobile suit blew up.

"_What the hell!" _The second GINN pulled out its Heavy Sword and charged. The Astray dodged swings as Cassandra looked for a weapon. She pressed a button and the mobile suit grabbed a white scabbard from its back that released a blue beam shaped like a sword. Astray swung its beam saber and cut the GINN at the waist.

"This suit kicks ass!" Cassie beamed with excitement.

Zeke and Haro saw the fight and were left speechless.

"Wow." Zeke said astonished that his invention could be used to take down two cutting edge mobile suits in less than three minutes.

At the factory, Kira and the girl stopped in front of a shelter door and caught their breath.

"See. Some people have evacuated here." The techie reassured her.

"_Is there still someone out there?" _

"Yes. My friend and I need to get inside. Please open the door."

"_Two of you?"_

"That's right."

"_We're filled to capacity already! There's Shelter 37 in the left bunk. Can you make it there?"_

"Please take my friend at least. She's just a girl." Kira said.

"_Ya.. okay. Sorry.." _The door opened up.

"Get in." Kira pushed her inside.

"What are you... I can't!" She said struggling.

"Get in will ya. I'll go to the other side. Don't worry okay." He pressed a button and closed the door. The elevator went down and Kira ran back into the fray. He looked below and saw the battle and the inactive mobile suits.

"Commander!" A soldier yelled.

A ZAFT soldier aimed his gun at the commander's backside as he stood on top of the Strike. Kira saw this.

"Behind you! Look out!"

The commander dodged the bullet and tried to fire back but his launcher was empty. The ZAFT soldier ran away from their sight. The soldier looked up and saw Kira on the upper level.

"That kid again. Why did he.." A soldier near him was shot. He crouched and fired his MP7A1, killing the green coat. He turned toward Kira.

"Hey kid, come here!"

"Thanks but I'm off to the shelters in the left block! Never mind me." Kira responded.

"There's nothing left behind that door!"

An explosion went off in the door next to Kira and knocked him on his ass. He got back up and ran down the stairs towards the Commander.

"This way!" The white-haired soldier ran up the frame of the Strike as Kira jumped over the railing and landed on his feet, surprising him..

A soldier fired and killed a ZAFT red coat. "Rusty!" The blue-haired red coat next to him yelled. He ran out of the cover and shot the soldier who killed Rusty.

"Hamana!" The commander aimed his pistol but the red coat was faster and shot him in the arm. As he fell Kira ran toward him. The red coat tossed his empty rifle and used his jetpack to boost him upward. As Kira crouched near the commander as the red coat ran toward them with a knife out. Kira looked up at the soldier and two meet eyes. Almost instantly the two recognized each other as the red coat froze up.

"Athrun?"

"K...Kira?"

As the fire grew bigger, to the two friends it like nothing was happening around them. The shock was too great. The scarred soldier grunted and aimed his pistol at Athrun. The blue-haired soldier jumped back and flew toward the Aegis. The commander got up and pushed Kira into the cockpit and fell in after him. The hatch closed up as the fire intensified. Athrun got into the cockpit of the Aegis and closed put before an explosion went off.

The Strike broke through the clamps and the wire broke off as the G-Weapon stood up.

**Next Time: Its Name is Gundam******

**To the land of wars come back to life Gundam!**

**AN: I remember watching the **_**8**__**th**__** MS Team**_** and **_**Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz**_** as a kid. I may not have understood a lot of the material at the time, but I knew what it was. A war drama with mobile suits as the main weapons and characters that were truly breathtaking. The first version of **_**Tales of Mjolnir **_**was learning more towards another version of **_**A Retelling. **_**And while that story is amazing, I wanted to do something unique. So with inspiration from Patriot-112's **_**Nation of the Ice**_** and ZAFT Prime's **_**Gundam SEED Divisions, **_**I decided to make my own SEED AU.**

**Basically, the Reconstruction War and the spread of Type S influenza never happened. So the nations of Earth are similar to real life. So the real NATO and European Union will be at war with ZAFT. **

**Also, the Natural VS Coordinator BULL*%&* annoyed the hell out of me while watching the SEED saga! That still be a theme, but it will be reserved for people like Flay Allster, Blue Cosmos and Patrick Zala's followers. It is not the reason NATO declared war on the PLANTs. The PLANTs were the ones that overreacted and dropped the N-Jammers on Earth. ****243,721 people may have been killed in the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, but the April Fool's Crisis resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of people (both Natural and Coordinator) and sent the Earth into a new energy crisis! That gives NATO more than enough reason to declare war. **

**So enjoy the revised version of my story and please read and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Welcome back everyone! So for all of you wondering, here are the specs for the Minuteman.**

**Mobile Unit: NMS-063 Minuteman**

**Unit Type: Mass Production General-Purpose Mobile Suit**

**Manufacturer: Weston Industries**

**Operators: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European Union**

**Known Pilots: Many**

**Height: 18.5 meters**

**Max Weight: 58.8 metric tons**

**Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery **

**Accommodations: Pilot only, cockpit in torso**

**Armor: Unknown**

**Special Equipment and Design Features: Sensors**

**Fixed Armament: 1x Heat Sword, Shield **

**Optional Armament: 90mm Machine Gun, 2x Shot Lancers**

**Technical and Historical Notes: When ZAFT revealed the YMF-01B Proto-GINN, the member nations of NATO decided to build their own mobile suit. After the weapons manufacturers combined into Weston Industries, the Minuteman was rolled out by C.E. 69. Its main weapons are its machine gun, a heat sword which can melt through a GINNs shield and the Shot Lancers, which fires a Lancer dart that can pierce the armor of most ZAFT mobile suits. This mobile suit has proven itself to be a perfect rival for the ZGMF-1017 GINN and its success has made way for several variants. **

**Appearance: Looks like the DT-6800A Daughtress with the Shot Lancers from the RGM-122 Javelin. Hope you like it!**

**Colors: Dark Green limbs with parts of gray, orange cockpit.**

**But enough specs, on with the show!**

_Phase 2: Its name is Gundam_****

In the space near the colony a GINN destroyed a Moebius Zero. Fortunately, the Zero's gunbarrels fire and destroyed the GINN too. A Minuteman managed to locate one of the Laurasia frigates and shot up the bridge with his machine gun and shot lancers. ****

**"**_A Level 8 evacuation has been issued for all of Heliopolis. Residents are instructed to make their way to the nearest shelter at once."_****

In the same crowd, Flay, her friends and the rival gamers ran to the nearest shelter. The GINNs continued to fire on anyone in their way. One was about to open fire on Flay's group until a barrage of missiles destroyed its right arm and assault rifle and temporarily disorientated it. The Work Loader that fired the missiles came in close to fire at the enemy machine's joint but was unfortunately crushed by the GINNs foot.

Flay looked at the screen in horror until she felt an hand on her shoulder. She looked and saw a bespectacled man with black hair and brown eyes. (Voice: Gabriel Mann) "Come on, we have to get to the shelter!" Flay nodded and followed him.

Mir, Tolle and Sai were on their way to a shelter when they saw an explosion coming from the Morgenroete factory. ****

The Aegis and the Strike few up from the smoke. The three teens were stunned as the Aegis landed near Miguel's unit.****

**"**Athrun." ****

**"**_Rusty failed." _the red-coat said grimly. ****

**"**What?" Miguel yelled. ****

**"**_The other machine has been boarded by a NATO officer." _****

The Strike landed and started to walk awkwardly. On one of the sides screens, Kira saw his friends running from the battle. ****

**"**What? Sai, Tolle, Mir?" ****

Miguel opened fire on the G-Weapon, barely missing its feet. The Strike stumbled a little before standing upright again. The GINN pulled out its heavy sword.****

**"**Okay, I'll capture this machine. You go ahead and make sure that you get yours out of here." He moved ahead. ****

Athrun wanted to say something but couldn't. **"**_Kira. No it can't be. There's no way he could've been there." _He pulled down the keyboard and started rewriting the OS for the Aegis. ****

The GINN ran and swung at the Strike but it jumped away with its booster and landed. The shock pushed Kira toward the console.****

**"**Get outta my way! You wanna die?" The commander yelled.****

**"**I'm sorry." Kira got up and saw the GINN heading toward them. "Ahhh!" It jumped into air just as the commander pressed a button with the words "Phase Shift" above it. The Strike turned from grey to Blue & White with red on a few parts. It covered it head with its arms as the heavy sword hit. Sparks flew from the hit but the G-Weapon was unharmed, shocking Kira, Athrun and Miguel. ****

**"**This mobile suit its.." Kira was interrupted by the soldier's pain-induced grunting. The GINN jumped away.****

**"**Damn it! What's going on here? What's with that armor?" ****

**"**_They're all equipped with a system known as Phase Shift Armor." _Athrun replied. **"**_Once activated, it renders all shell and impact weapon useless." _****

The Aegis activated its phase shift and turned red. Two missiles flew from a silo but the Aegis destroyed them with its head-mounted CIWS. It turned and destroyed a missile truck. ****

A few feet away, Cassandra saw this from her screen. "Looks like the factory is under attack. We got to get a move on."****

**"**_Go ahead. Me and Haro will follow you." _****

**"**Roger." The Astray Green sprinted toward the factory as Zeke and Haro followed in the truck. ****

**"**_You got get out of here now." _Miguel told Athrun. **"**_You can't stick around this place forever!" _****

Athrun looked at the Strike from his side-screen of his cockpit as an image of Kira appeared in his head. The Aegis lifted off the ground and flew away. As Athrun flew towards the exist his alarm blared as he saw the Astray headed for him. "Another machine?"

"You won't get away!" Cassandra yelled as she body checked the Aegis and grabbed a hold of the cockpit area. The Astray started to pulled as Athrun quickly looked through the weapon data.

"This should do." The Aegis turned its head and fired the CIWS on the Astray's shoulder joints. The green mobile suit let go and the Aegis kicked it towards the ground. Cassandra growled as the red machine got away. ****

The warning alarm blared as Miguel's GINN flew toward the Strike. The Commander fired the CIWS but the GINN dodged the bullets. ****

**"**_The calibration is off." _Kira noticed in his head.****

**"**Doesn't matter how good your armor is..." The GINN swung down but the Strike side-steep and avoided the sword. The GINN backed away and hit G-Weapon, pushing it back. "...If it can barely move!" The GINN hit the Strike in shoulder knocking it into a nearby building. On the side-screen, Kira saw his friends nearby. ****

**"**Trying to pilot that mobile suit! You're in way over your head!" The GINN raised it sword prepared to stab the cockpit. The Strike backed away as Kira's friends stood frozen in fear. Kira saw this and grabbed the controls from the soldier. The Strike ducked the sword only grazed its shoulders before it shoulder-checked the GINN, pushing it onto its back. ****

**"**How did you?" Murrue asked.****

**"**There's still people around here." Kira said as pressed a few buttons. "If you're gonna drive something like this, you've gotta make better use of it."****

The GINN got back up. ****

**"**This is ridiculous. How they expect to run a complex with this kind of OS?" Kira said as he saw the layout of the Operating System. ****

**"**It hasn't yet reached the completion stage. It can't be helped." The commander responded. ****

The GINN and the Strike stood each other down. "You bastard." Miguel grunted. ****

**"**Please, move aside." Kira said. "Hurry!" The commander got out of the pilot seat and Kira sat down. He pulled out the keyboard and inserted the flash-drive he finished the other day. He started typing at lightning fast speed. The GINN flew toward the Strike again but it was slowed down by the CIWS. The GINN got close and Strike pulled back its fist and clocked it in the head, pushing it into a building. ****

**"**What's with this guy? Now he's moving better." The GINN put away its sword and pulled out its assault rifle. It fired and hit the Strike but the Phase Shift rendered the bullets mute. Kira stepped on the foot pedal and the boosters on the back of the suit ignited and it flew into the air. The GINN followed after it and fired, but the Strike dodged the shots. ****

**"**Weapons?" Kira looked on the weapons screen. "Armor Schneider? That's all there is?!"

"Sometimes all you need is a good knife." The commander stated. ****

Two knifes popped out if the waist and the Strike grabbed one in each hand. The machines landed on the ground. "Go for the joints! That's its week spot!"

The GINN fired on the Strike as it ran and dodged the shots. ****

**"**Damn piece of Earth trash!" Miguel yelled.****

**"**No don't do it here!" Kira yelled. The Strike flew toward the GINN. "STOP IT!" The G-Weapons stabbed the GINN in its shoulder and neck, making its arm limp. ****

**"**Hydraulics not responding." Miguel said. "Multi-Drive system offline." He took off his seat-belt and pulled the GINN's self-destruct switch. A door on the machines back opened up and the green coat flew out on his jet pack. ****

**"**This doesn't look good! Step away from the GINN!" The commander yelled. The ZAFT suit blew up and knocked the Strike back. ****

In the corridor of the secret hangar, an unconscious Natarle hit the ceiling. She woke up and saw the body of a dead engineer next to her. She nearly threw up but swallowed it down. "The ship. Where's the Archangel?" She floated down the corridor.****

Outside, the Marseille III was hit but a GINN assault rifle. ****

**"**We've lost control!" One of the bridge crew said as the ship flew toward the colony. The old captain screamed as the ship crashed into the colony, killing everyone on it as the ship layed dead in the water.

"Laurasia-class in sight." An officer on one of the Drake-class escorts yelled.

"Aim for the bridge and blow these bastards out of the cosmos!" The captain ordered. The Drake closed in on the enemy ship and fired, destroying the bridge. However, the victory was short lived as the Vesalius fired its beam cannons and destroyed it. ****

Mu's Moebius Zero chased after a GINN. "Even with our weapons, ZAFT has the advantage in numbers!" ****

The Zero launched its gunbarrels and dodged the bullets of the GINN. He fired and destroyed his enemy's assault rifle before using the gunbarrels to destroy its left arm. ****

**"**Olor's damaged! Emergency landing! Fire Crew to B Deck!" On crew member on the Vesalius yelled. **  
**"How have we lost so many GINNs and two Laurasias?" Adas asked. "I known NATO is determined but I didn't think they'd put up this much of a fight." ****

**"**From the looks of it, we have an unforeseen problem." Rau said. " A rather annoying fly buzzing around." ****

**"**Captain! Caswell and Monty's units have been destroyed! They sent us this image!" A still of the Astray Green with its blue beam saber was shown on the screen. ****

**"**A sixth mobile suit? Our data only suggested five." Adas said astonished. ****

**"**_Laser beacon detected from Miguel Aiman. It's an emergency." _****

**"**If those weapons are effective enough to take out Caswell, Monty and Miguel's mobile suits, its all the more reason more why we can't simply neglect these last two." The masked man said as he floated out of the room. ****

Natarle floated through the floating debris in the corridor. "Is anybody here? Anyone?" She saw the captain's hat floating. She grabbed its as tears from in her eyes. "No dammit. Are there any survivors out there?" Her voice echoed through the halls. A door kicked open as a crew member with a flashlight saw her. ****

**"**Ensign Badgeruel, glad to see you're okay." Petty Officer Arnold Neumann said. **  
****  
**Recall flares lit up the sky as the GINNs flew away.

"They're retreating?" Mu said. "But there's still something. What's this?" The Zero flew toward Heliopolis. A white CGUE flew toward the mobile armor. ****

**"**Tell me, do you feel my presence? Do you sense it in the same way I sense yours? An unfortunate fate, wouldn't you say, Mu La Flaga?" Rau said ominously.****

Inside the colony, the Strike was kneeling down with its phase shift turned off. As the guys inspected the machine, Mir watched over an unconscious and bandaged the injured soldier. He grunted and opened her eyes. ****

**"**Well I see you're finally awake." Mir said. "Hey Kira!" The boy walked toward the commander and kneeled down. "You're better off just lying still for now. I do owe you an apology. I guess I got kinda carried away in there." He helped him sit up and he drank the water Mir offered him.

"No need to thank me. Whatever you did to the OS saved us. If anything I should be thanking you."

"All I did was use the same operating system we were using for an experimental rescue frame. I just to adjust it a bit." ****

**"**This so-called Gundam is awesome!" Tolle yelled from the opened cockpit. "But why did it turn gray?" ****

**"**I guess it means the main battery is out of juice." Sai commented. ****

"Get down from there!" The commander yelled as Sai and Tolle turned to him. "That's top-secret military equipment, not a toy!" The two teens did as they were told and got down, scared of the large officer in cobalt. They walked towards Kira and Mir. "Now state your names."

******"**I'm Sai Argyle."****

**"**My name is Tolle Koenig." ****

**"**I'm Miriallia Haw." ****

**"**Kira Yamato."****

"Well now we know each other. I'm Commander Douglas Taggart, European Union Special Forces."****

"What's in EU officer doing in Heliopolis?" Mir asked.

"Isn't obvious?" Douglas said as he gestured to the Strike. "This was supposed to a transfer from the Strike and its brothers. ZAFT got wind of it and then this happened.

"Um, guys. We got a problem." Sai said as he pointed to the Astray Green walking toward with a truck close by. The mobile suit and the truck stopped in front of them. ****

**"**Another one? Identify yourselves!" Douglas ordered as he pointed his pistol at the mobile suit. Zeke and Haro got out of the truck. The cockpit of the Astray Green opened as Douglas's gun was shot out of his hand. Cassandra was holding a pistol as the Astray kneeled down and the female pilot jumped down. ****

**"**I'm Chief Warrant Officer Cassandra Slade, NATO. What are you doing with these kids?" She ordered. ****

"Relax soldier. I'm with the EU." Douglas said he pulled out his ID, showing his rank. "Now put down the gun before you do something stupid." He turned toward Zeke. "And you are?" ****

"Ezekiel Hudson. " Zeke stated. "But you can call me Zeke." ****

"And how did you two come across this mobile suit?" The older man asked, referring to the Astray.

"I built it." The mechanic said.

"_Built it! Built it!" _Haro yelled.

"Well, I guess this is why Morgenroete was so nonchalant about us helping us with the GAT series.****

"Morgenroete built these mobile suits?" Sai asked.****

"I guess that explains all the extra workers suddenly applying for jobs here." Tolle commented. Douglas turned towards the teens.

"I hate to do this, but we'll need your help with the mobile suits."

"Are you serious?" Kira asked. **  
**

"Well there's still a battle going on and we can't handle the maintenance of these suits by ourselves. So any help would be appreciated." Zeke said.**  
**

"You can't force us to do this." Mir said.

"I'm not forcing you." Douglas said. "Look, there's a good chance ZAFT will come back for the Strike and the shelters are probably closed by now. Our only chance of survival is contacting any surviving ally ships and getting the hell out of here. Any objections?" Everyone nodded no. "Then let's get to work." ****

In space, Rau's CGUE hid behind a pillar as the Zero flew by unaware of the danger nearby. Mu felt something and saw the CGUE aim its rifle at him. It fired but the Zero speed ahead of the bullets. ****

**"**Bastard!" He yelled. "Is that you Rau Le Creuset?" He detached two of his gunbarrels and zoomed toward his rival. ****

**"**You always seem to get in my way Mu La Flaga!" The masked man yelled. "Though I imagine you'd probably say the same thing about me!" ****

The CGUE flew into the colony shaft. "He's gone into Heliopolis." The Zero followed after him. ****

The Archangel floated intact among the wreckage. ****

**"**The only survivors are the few of us who were aboard the ship at the time of the explosion. But.. most of them are factory workers." A crewman explained to Natarle on the bridge of the Archangel. ****

**"**Current Status?" She asked. "What of the ZAFT Vessels?" ****

**"**I've no idea. We've been busy enough as it is verifying what's happening around here." ****

The black-haired Ensign pressed a switch and the lights turned on. In screen showed that the new warship had little damage. "This Archangel's quite the ship." Natarle said impressed. "It would take a whole lot more than this to sink it."****

**"**However, out there is a mountain of debris. Its blocking off the harbor's exit. We're completely trapped in here."****

Natarle turned on the radio communications and heard nothing but static. "So the airways are still being jammed. And yet this has only been a diversion? That must mean ZAFT's true target is Morgenroete. Make's sense. What's happening there? Where are the G-Weapons? This doesn't tell me anything at all!" ****

**"**_*crackle* X-105 * here. * NATO and EU forces* Please Respond!*" _Kira's voice could be heard from the static, surprising the people on the bridge.****

At the same time, the group inside the colony, Sai drove up with a transport truck as Zeke, Douglas and Kira were using the machines on Zeke's truck to recharge and equip the Astray Green with a machine gun and shield. ****

**"**I haven't finished all the weapons so you'll just have to make use of these." Zeke said.**  
**

"That's cool. Its more than what a gunbarrel could do in this kind of situation." Cassandra replied from the open cockpit. Sai walked up to the group. ****

**"**The number 5 trailer. That's the one you asked for right?" ****

**"**Yes that's right." Douglas said.****

**"**So what's next?" Sai asked. ****

**"**We have to equip the Strike Pack. Once that's done Kira and Cassandra can try contacting them one more time." She said.****

**"**Okay." The young techie walked toward the Strike. ****

"I can't I try with my machine?" Cassandra asked.

"The Astray doesn't the same frequency codes as the Strike. It won't be able to communicate with any NATO or EU ships even without N-Jammer interference unless I adjust it." Zeke explained. ****

Inside the walls of Heliopolis, The CGUE fired on the Zero as the mobile armor evaded the bullets.****

**"**Why in this place?" Mu fired his linear cannon. The CGUE flew faster than the shots as the Zero continued to tail it. Rau's machine turned around and fired, making the Zero dodge once more. Mu tried to target his rival but a pillar got in the way of the two.****

**"**Mu, I'd actually be pleased if you vanished right about now!" As soon as the Zero was in sight, Rau fired and hit the docked gunbarrels, forcing La Flaga to eject all but one.****

In the Archangel, Natarle sat in the Captain's seat.****

**"**Launch the ship? But that's impossible with the number of people we have." Arnold said. ****

**"**The time you're using to argue could be better spent on a making it possible." The ensign responded. "Morgenroete could still be under attack right for all we know! Are you saying we should remain cooped up here and ignore what;s happening elsewhere?" As they were talking, there crewmen floated into the bridge to the stations behind the Captains chair. ****

**"**I rounded them up for you."****

**"**To your stations people!" Natarle ordered. "Just carry out the computer's instructions." ****

**"**Right ma'am."****

**"**Those ZAFT vessels are still out there somewhere. We're in no position to engage them." ****

**"**I'm aware of that. As the ship comes online, be ready to fire assault cannons. You can do that Chief, can't you?" ****

The Chief officer sat in the gunners seat.****

**"**Alright. Commence launch sequence. Due to the urgent nature we'll emit C-30 through L-21 from the process. Main power online." The ensign declared. ****

**"**Output request stable. 450 seconds to required rating." ****

**"**That's too long. What's the status of conduits to Heliopolis?" ****

**"**They're undamaged."****

**"**Set us up to draw power through them! Get the conduits online! Relay power to accumulator!" ****

**"**Connection confirmed. Flow stable. 20 seconds to required rating."****

**"**Life support systems, normal."****

**"**CIC online."****

**"**Weapon systems online. SCS contact." ****

**"**Magnetic Field Chamber and Pellet Dispenser functioning and stable." ****

**"**Maintaining external impact damper at maximum output."****

**"**Linking main power. Engine stable."****

**"**All Archangel Systems online. Preparations for launch complete."****

**"**Seal all air tight bulkheads." Natarle ordered. "All hands be prepared for sudden impacts as well as possible damage to the ship. Advance with caution. Launch Archangel!" ****

The engines ignited as the state-of-the-art battleship moved through the debris. The Lohengrin cannons opened up. ****

Meanwhile, Rau and Mu continued their fight. The CGUE dodged the last gunbarrel and kicked it in nonexistence. The Zero and CGUE continued their dance of bullets and linear fire.****

The gray Strike kneeled in front of the truck as it opened and revealed an intimidating cannon cannon with a combo weapon pod. ****

**"**Which one is the power pack?" Kira asked.****

**"**The weapons and power pack are integrated. Mount the whole unit." Douglas instructed.****

**"**That's pretty ingenious." Zeke said as he went over the final checks of the Astray Green.**  
****  
****"**_Smart move!" _Haro beamed.****

The Zero and CGUE flew further down the shaft.****

**"**The evacuation orders are still in effect I guess." Mir said.****

**"**I wonder if my father and the others have it to the shelters." Sai said.****

An explosion appeared high above them. Rau's CGUE flew from the smoke and spotted the two mobile suits.

"Holy crap!" Tolle yelled.

"We've got company." Cassandra said as she closed the Astray's cockpit. ****

**"**So that must be them." The masked man said.****

**"**The final unit?" Mu felt a familiar presence. "And Slade's in that green one." ****

The CGUE flew toward the group as the Zero followed. ****

**"**Mount the equipment before its too late!" Murrue yelled.****

**"**_I'll provide some cover fire!" _The Astray Green detached its power cable and moved toward the approaching units. The CGUE pulled out its sword and flew toward the Zero. As he closed in, a barrage of bullets missed him by a few inches. Rau looked at the green & white gundam. ****

**"**A new presence? So Mu's took on a subordinate."****

"This is as far as you go." Cassandra grunted as the Astray grabbed its beam sabers and started swinging at the CGUE. The gray machine dodged but one of the sabers hit its mark and sliced off its left leg.

"It cut through my armor like it was nothing." Rau stated. He pulled out his assault rifle and fired, forcing the Astray to drop its sabers and block the shots with its shield. Using this opportunity, the CGUE flew toward the Strike. ****

**"**It doesn't matter! I'll take you all right now while I still have the chance!" The masked man yelled with determination.****

The Launcher Park attached to the G-Weapon's back as Kira activated the Phase Shift armor. The now white and blue Gundam stood up. ****

In the hangar, the Archangel fired its Lohengrin cannons. **  
****  
**A massive explosion burst through the ground. The Archangel flew through the fire and smoke. True to its name, it looked like an angel among all the chaos as the three mobile suits pilot looked in awe.****

**Next Time: Wasteland******

**Shoot down the approaching menace Gundam!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Just to let you guys know, I am updating my story. The overall plot is still the same, I'm just making changes in characters. One of the most notably changes I've made is the removal of Murrue Ramius, Kuzzey and my OC Mitsukai. My new OC Douglas Taggart is not a male replacement for Murrue Ramius but a character I wanted to write for a long time. So have fun with the new changes!**

_Phase 3: Wasteland_

"Not the new warship." Rau Le Creuset scowled as he looked at the Archangel. "The team failed to destroy it."

"A warship within the colony?" Mu asked.

"The Archangel!" Douglas said surprised that the ship survived the explosions.

"Morgenroete has been destroyed!" A crew member on the Archangel reported.

"The Strike has been activated. No wait, its in combat!"

"Unknown mobile suit matching the G-Weapons detected."

"Oh great." Natarle said.

The CGUE zoomed toward the Archangel but the Astray Green flew after it.

"Not so fast!" Cassandra stepped on the pedal and rammed Rau's machine with her shield. The grey machine readjusted and fired back at the green mobile suit. The Astray pulled out its blue back-mounted beam saber and slashed at the CGUE and sliced its shield in half.

"Impressive. I wonder if this is the power of the machine or the skills of its pilot?" Rau said. The CGUE grabbed its heavy sword and swung at the Astray Green. The green suit put away its beam saber and fired its CIWS and machine gun. Rau dodged the attacks while replacing his rifle's clip and flew toward the Strike on the ground.

"Using Phase Shift? Then how about this?"

"Hit the dirt!" Douglas ordered. The group ran as the CGUE opened fire. Kira made the Strike kneel down in front of them, blocking the bullets with its Phase Shift Armor.

"So not even advanced APSV can damage it." Rau commented.

"Ready Missile Tubes 7 through 10 and prepare to fire on my command." Natarle ordered. "Target the enemy mobile suit." The missile ports on the side of the Archangel opened up. "Laser designator. You are not to hit the shaft or ground, got that? Fire!"

Four missiles fired and flew toward the CGUE. Rau flew toward the shaft. He blew up two missiles with his rifle and dodged so that the other missiles hit the shaft, weakening the structure of Heliopolis.

"What? You gotta be kidding me." Kira grabbed a targeting scope and aimed the Agni Impulse Cannon at the CGUE.

"Yamato, what are you..." Taggart's voice was drowned out as a large orange energy blast fired, destroying the right arm of the CGUE and blasting a hole in the colony wall.

The bridge crew of the Archangel were stunned at the large blast.

The CGUE used this opportunity and escaped through the hole, dodging bullets from the Astray Green as it escaped.

"How is that possible? A mobile suit with that much firepower?" Rau asked.

"The enemy mobile suit is retreating."

"Prepare for landing. Adjust speed to match ground rotation. Brace yourselves for gravity." Natarle ordered.

On the Vesalius, crewman were scanning the exterior of the Aegis as Athrun sat in the cockpit and extracted data. The terminal of the workers beeped.

"Sorry. I started working on yours too by mistake." Athrun said.

"Oh. Not to worry. We've now completed the external inspection and recharging. How about you?"

"Ya, I'm finished as well. How did they ever manage to use this OS?" The green-eyed red coat said. Alarms started blaring.

"_Commander Le Creuset is returning. Damage sustained from a direct hit. Firefighting and rescue squads to beacon."_

The hangar doors opened up as the damaged CGUE flew and the impact net slowed it down.

"His unit's lost an arm."

"_How is that possible?" _Athrun thought to himself. "_But if it was him."_

Inside Heliopolis, the Strike brought Kira's friends, Zeke, Haro and Douglas onto the opened catapult of the Archangel with the Astray Green next to it.

"Commander Taggart!" Natarle and a group of soldiers ran toward them.

"Ensign Natarle Badgiruel." The two officers saluted each other.

"It's a relief to see that you're safe." The Ensign said.

"You as well. I'm pleased to see that you protected the Archangel. You do realize you saved us?"

The cockpits of the Gundams opened up as Kira and Cassandra came down on the zip-lines.

"Could someone tell me what's going on? The woman's a soldier but he's just a kid." Murdoch said. "He just learned how to shave and he's piloting that thing?" Kira's friends greeted him.

"Commander, what's going on?" Natarle asked.

"Pardon my language Ensign, but think I speak for everyone when I say the proverbial shit has literally hit the actually fan." Zeke said.

"_Hit the fan!" _Haro said.

"Wow. What a surprise." Everyone turned and saw Mu walking toward them.

"I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the 7th Orbital Fleet at your service. It's an honor." The Zero pilot saluted. "Glad to see you're still alive Cassie."

"You too Lieutenant." Cassandra saluted with a smile. "Chief Warrant Officer Cassandra Slade of the same unit."

"Commander Douglas Taggart, Sector 2 Special Division. I'm a crew member of this ship."

"Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, same division."

"I would like permission to board this vessel. May I ask who is in command around here?" Mu asked.

Natarle's expression turned grim. "The captain and all of the superior officers of this ship have perished. Therefore, I believe its Commander Taggart who's next in command."

"What about Captain Fredrick?" Douglas asked.

"Dead. Only about a dozen of us are left sir, mostly non-commissioned officers. Fortunately, I was in the shaft and managed to survive." Natarle reported.

"Jesus Christ." Zeke said.

"Oh man. What an unmitigated disaster. In any any case, please let me and my friend permission to board Commander. The ship we were assigned to engaged the enemy and was downed." Mu said.

This information shocked Cassandra as she remembered the Captain of the Maraseille III. However, she knew blaming herself would be counterproductive given the situation they were in.

"Sure. Permission granted." Douglas said.

"And who's that?" Mu said looking at the students.

"That's Kira Yamato. He piloted the Strike, defeated a GINN and helped me damage Rau Le Creuset's CGUE." Cassandra said.

"What?" Natarle asked. "That kid actually fought off a GINN?"

"And Cassandra took out two of them." Zeke said.

"Nice work." Mu said, proud of his protege before turning to Taggart. "We came as escorts for the pilots trained to use the G-Weapons. Where are they?" He asked.

"The bombs detonated near the control booth where the captain was welcoming them at that very moment. So they were also..." Natarle couldn't bring herself to say it.

"I see." Mu said as he looked at Kira.

"What?"

"You're a coordinator, aren't you?"

Kira hesitated before answering. "Yes I am."

_The Vesalius, Bridge..._

"We were lucky that the GINN recorded this data. If I didn't have this as proof, I'd be a laughing stock for allowing my unit to be damaged by two Earth Forces mobile suits. No one would believe it was possible." Rau said as Captain Ades, Athrun, Miguel and four other green coats watched the footage of the Strike and the Astray Green. "I believe all of you are aware of the incomplete status of the machine's original OS. With that in mind, I have no idea why this lone unit maneuvered so well. However, since we had no intel on the green mobile suit, its possible that this machine is running with the complete OS. So let me make one thing perfectly clear. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye and allow them to have possession of these machines. If we cannot capture them, then we must destroy them along with that new warship. Don't underestimate it." Rau saluted.

"Sir!" The pilot saluted back.

"All pilots, prepare to launch at once. We've been authorized to use Weapons Configurations D. And this time, lets see you put an end to all this." Adas ordered.

"Yes sir!" The four green coats floated out of the room.

"Look's like it's payback time." Olor said.

"Hell yeah. I'll teach that NATO bastard a lesson for beating me. " Miguel said as he cracked his fists.

_Back with the Archangel..._

"Lieutenant, I request an explanation." Natarle whispered, referring to Kira piloting the Strike.

"He used an operating system he made for a frame. If I had to guess, these kids were working for Professor Kato." Douglas explained.

"That must have been some OS you kids concocted." Mu commented.

"Why do you say that?" The purple-eyed coordinator asked..

Mu looked up at the Strike and the Astray Green. "As we made our way here, I watched the guys who were suppose to pilot this thing run through a bunch of simulations. They really had to struggle just to get it to move."

"Its probably because the OS for these suits were incomplete." Zeke commented.

"But the OS on the Astray Green works just fine." Cassandra said.

"That's because it runs on an OS I designed myself." Zeke said.

"So what do we do now?" Natarle asked.

"What do we do? I've just been shot down, all of our reinforcements have been wiped out and the Le Creuset team is waiting for us outside the colony. He's definitely a persistent fellow. If you ask me, I don't think we can't afford to spend too much time here." Mu said.

"Either way, we'll have a fight on our hands. And from the looks of it, I don't think Heliopolis can take another hit." Douglas commented. "Do we any spare mobile suits?"

"We have two Minuteman Weapons and one Minuteman Command." Murdoch stated.

"Get them up and running. We'll need them."

On the Gamow, four GINNs were being equipped for battle. Their weapons included leg-mounted missile launchers, arm-mounted short range missile launchers and a "Barrus" heavy ion cannon. In the observation booth was Yzak, Dearka and Nicol.

"D Equipment." Dearka said.

"I take it Commander Creuset is planning to storm a fortress or something." Yzak commented.

"What do you think is going to happen to Heliopolis?" Nicol asked.

"Can't be helped now can it?" Dearka responded.

"Serves them right. And they call themselves a neutral state." Yzak said.

Several trucks were bringing equipment and supplies onto the Archangel. Several crewmen were working on the Zero, the Strike, the Minutemen and the Astray Green.

Kira sleep in the crew's quarters as Sai, Tolle, and Mir stood near him.

"I'm impressed he can sleep at a time like this." Tolle said.

"He's exhausted. What happened today was really difficult for Kira you know." Mir said.

"Well I guess its really hard to argue against that."

"Who would have thought our work on a rescue frame would end up saving us?" Sai asked. "Kira must have been really desperate to install a program we were still testing in the middle of a battle."

"That's our Kira. Always reckless." Mir stated as the three of them laughed.

In the hangar, Zeke and Murdoch were overlooking the repairs as the Astray Green was equipped with a new rifle with green parts and an axe-like handle. The Minutemen were being repaired and having their ammunition resupplied.

"You know, I'd feel a lot safer if ZAFT didn't have at least ten more mobile suits in the wings. Is this all we can deploy?" Zeke asked.

"We have the spare Minutemen, but we don't have anyone to pilot them." Murdoch stated.

"Well that's a shame."

"_Real Shame!" _Haro yelled.

Outside, Three GINNs with D Equipment launched from the Vesalius while four more were launched from the remaining Laurasia-class vessel. In the cockpit of the Aegis, Athrun activated it as the screens lit up.

"Close the hatch!" The Aegis released its clamps and got onto the catapult. "Is that going out too?" The G-Weapon launched as it activated its red phase shift armor and followed after the GINNs.

"Athrun Zala's taken off in a captured unit? Recall him! Order him back to the ship!" Adas yelled.

"Let him go. We're done with the data extraction. This may in fact be quite interesting. Imagine, a battle where three of those weapons engage in combat." Rau said.

"Electrical interference throughout the colony. N-Jammer levels rising." The Archangel's CIC reported.

"What was that?" Natarle asked.

"That bastard. Looks like he doesn't intend to wait until we head out." Mu said.

"Do they plan to hit us again while we're inside the colony?"

"For them its easy. They can fire at us all they want but we can't shoot back. Nice."

"I'm not gonna do it! Please don't get us more involved in this war then you've already have." Kira said as Douglas tried to convince him to pilot the Strike. As his friends looked on, Cassandra was floating through and saw the group. She floated toward them as Kira keep yelling. "We don't want anything to do with your war! That's why we chose to live in neutral territory!" Kira saw Cassandra floated toward them. She stepped in between Kira and Douglas and without warning, she slapped Kira. Everyone was shocked.

"Quit your whining! You're a man aren't you? I don't like sending civilians into a war zone, but you rewrote the OS so much that even Zeke can't fix it." Cassandra yelled. "I might be good but I'm still learning how to use the Astray and the Lieutenant's Zero is too damaged to sortie. Are you so high and mighty that you'll let everyone on this ship die!?"

Kira stared back at the woman in shock. This was the same woman that protected them against the gray CGUE. And now she was asking him pilot that mobile suit again?

"Besides, with the shelters on a Level 9 alert level, we can't let anyone off this ship now." Douglas said.

_Outside..._

The remaining NATO forces engaged the incoming ZAFT mobile suits. The remaining Zeroes unleashed their gunbarrels and opened fire.

"_Ignore them! Focus on getting inside the colony!" _Miguel ordered. The GINNs dodged the shots as Miguel's unit fired its ion cannon and destroyed the orange mobile armor. _"Half of you destroyed the __scraps! The rest of you, follow me!" _

The Minuteman unleashed a storm of bullets as it tried to hit an enemy MS. A GINN flew past it and fired its reconcile-less rocket launcher, but the Minuteman tossed its shield causing both the projectile and the shield to be destroyed. The green mobile weapon pulled out its heat sword and charged at the GINN slashing it by the waist. But it's arm was blown off by an ion cannon before a blast pierced its cockpit, killing the pilot and leaving the suit useless.

The Archangel lifted off the ground as the Minutemen were the first units to be sortied.

"Our top priority is to escape Heliopolis. Be careful not to damage the colony during battle." Natarle ordered from the captain's chair as Douglas sat in the CIC. While Douglas had the higher rank, Natarle knew more about ship combat. So they came to a decision that the black-haired ensign would be the acting captain.

The Strike stood on the right launch catapult as a new pack was equipped to it.

"Now its the Sword Striker. That should prevent a repeat of last time." Kira said as he activated the Phase Shift armor.

In the other hangar, Cassandra was overlooking the Astray Green's new weapons. "A 350mm Hyper Bazooka. Alright, I've got some firepower. But what's this Twin Sword Rifle?" She looked over the data for a second. "Whoa! You keep on surprising me Gundam."

"Heat sources approaching. Thermal pattern is a GINN." The radar showed an image of two GINNs with arm-mounted missiles.

"What are they thinking? They're equipped with heavy artillery used for taking out bases. Are they planning on using that here?!" Mu yelled in anger.

An explosion blasted through the colony wall as seven GINNs flew through the new hole.

"Second group detected."

"Send out the Strike and the Astray." Natarle ordered.

"One unit is X303. Its the Aegis."

The two gundams launched from the ship and headed for battle.

"Links lasers to main cannons! Fire at will!" Douglas ordered.

The Gottfrieds opened up and fired green beams at the enemy suits. The blasts missed.

"Olor! Matthew! Get the ship! Loeb, Caius! Take out that green unit! Athrun! Show us that spirit that made you defy orders!" Miguel ordered.

"Sure."

The Strike activated its Anti-Ship Beam Sword as it stared down Miguel's GINN.

"You! You're going down!" Miguel yelled. He fired his ion cannon. The Strike dodged and the blast hit one of the support pillars. Miguel fired and the Strike dodged again as the blast destroyed a building.

"There's no way I can avoid hitting the colony." Kira said.

The Astray Green flew past the combatants as she headed for the hole in colony wall. The Astray's alarmed blared as a GINN flew through the hole.

"_Get out of my way!"_ The mono-eyed MS let his four missiles fly free.

"On no you don't!" Cassandra aimed her rifle and fired, her shots firing twice as fast as the Type 71 rifle. With four shots she destroyed missiles before she charged at the enemy. She pressed a button as the green parts of the rifle moved to the front and ignited into two beam sabers. She flew toward the GINN and ran through its left shoulder and cockpit, killing the pilot. The Astray Green pulled away and flew outside. The Astray attached the TSR to its waist and grabbed the hyper bazooka. The targeting axis aligned and the green Gundam fired. The warning system blared but the GINN pilot never got a chance to react as his mobile suit was destroyed.

Another fired its leg-mounted missiles but they were destroyed by the Astray Green's CIWS. A fast mobile suit flew past the Gundam and headed towards the Archangel. "The Aegis?" Cassandra stepped on the foot pedals and headed towards the red mobile suit. Before being shoulder-checked by a GINN.

Miguel fired his ion cannon and this time it consumed the Strike in a ball of light. "Yes! Did I get it?" The Strike flew through the light and moved toward the GINN which sidestepped the swing and fired again.

Two GINNs flew toward the Archangel and dodged its CIWS. One GINN fired its waist missiles and hit the Archangel's side.

"Number 4 weapons bank has been hit! Seal off bulkheads on the double!"

The other GINN fired its massive arm-mounted missiles. The Archangel moved full starboard as the missiles hit the colony ground.

Luke's Minuteman shoulder-checked a GINN before backing up and tearing the suit apart with his machine gun.

Kira and Miguel keep dodging the each other's attack. "Its quick! Get behind it Athrun!"

The Aegis flew toward the Strike and Kira saw it coming toward him. "It's that mobile suit."

"Kira, is it you?" Athrun said as the Aegis passed by the Strike. Miguel flew toward him.

"I got ya now!" He fired his ion cannon but the Strike flew above the blast. Kira grabbed the Midas Messer and tossed it. Miguel dodged it but like all boomerangs do, it spun back and slashed off the GINN's right leg. "No way!" With a battle cry, Kira charged with the Beam Sword ready to slice. Miguel used the last of his unit's verniers to move a nudge to the left as the massive sword slashed the GINN in two but left the cockpit undamaged.

Mu pulled the trigger as the Archangel fired one of its Gottfried cannons, destroying a GINN and hitting and accidentally hitting the support beam to the colony. "Oh Shit!"

As parts of the beam fell, The Strike and the Aegis stared each other down.

"_Strike, What are you doing? We're under attack by the enemy!" _

"_Athrun! Where are you Athrun?"_

The two machines flew by each other.

"Kira! Kira Yamato! So it is you, isn't it Kira."

"Athrun? Athrun Zala?!"

The Archangel blasted the last active GINN's waist off but the missile still went off. They flew and hit the support beam, but time the structure didn't survive.

"What is this? Why are you here?" Kira asked his former friend.

"You should talk! What do you think you're doing in that thing?" Athrun replied.

All around them, Heliopolis started falling apart. The support pillars fell. The ground broke apart. Buildings collapsed and pieces of road upturned. The shelters ejected as lifeboats and flew away from the collapsing colony. Cassie, the crew of the Balder, even the crew of the Vesalius was horrified by the devastation, except for Rau Le Creuset, who wore a sinister smile.

The Archangel and the captured GINN were pulled into the vacuum of space. The Strike was pulled in along with the Aegis and Miguel's unit.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"KIRA NOOOOO!"

"GODDAMMIT!" Miguel yelled.

"AHHH!" Cassandra yelled as the Astray and the GINN she was fighting were sucked into the vacuum of space.

Heliopolis started the day off as a proud colony of Orb. But now it was nothing but a debris field.

**Next Time: Silent Run******

**Break through the darkness Gundam!**

**Also, thanks for the feedback guys! And to BlueMoon, I will post a timeline in one of the next chapters. So be on the lookout. **

**So until next time, please Read and Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Phase 4: Silent Run_

"_X105 Strike, P04 Astray Green. Please Respond."_

The two mobile suits floated along with the debris. In the Strike's cockpit, Kira was breathing heavily.

"_X105 Strike, P04 Astray Green. Can you hear me?" _

"Heliopolis... It's gone... Why?" Kira asked.

In her cockpit, Cassandra grit her teeth in anger. She remembered a lesson Mu La Flaga once told her.

"_No matter what the top brass says you have to remember that in war, no side is truly good or evil."_

"If no side in war is truly evil, then how can ZAFT call themselves just if they do this? How can that bastard Creuset even sleep at night?"

On the Archangel, the crew and the Heliopolis teens were shocked by the debris that used to be a colony just a few minutes ago. The Minutemen returned to their mobile suit births as Gale slammed his fist against the cockpit wall. "Damn it! This is exactly what I was afraid off!"

Luke signed in contempt. "We should have never come here."

"I can't believe it. It was so fragile." Mu said.

"X105 Strike! P04 Astray Green! Kira Yamato! Warrant Officer Slade!" Natarle said trying to contact the pilots. "If you can hear me, please respond!"

"_This is Slade. I'm alright. I'm returning to the Archangel." _

"Very well." Murrue said. The one of the screens started to flicker before changing to an image of the Balder's captain.

"_Archangel, this is Captain Mitsukai Nagasawa of the Balder. Can you hear me?" _

"This is Murrue Ramius of Archangel. We hear you loud and clear Balder."

_"What a relief." _The young captain said. _"I thought everyone was dead by now."_

"I should you'd survive Mitsu." Mu said with a smirk.

"_Good to see you too, La Flaga. By the way, are Luke and Gale still kicking?"_

"You bet. Those guys can survive anything."

"_X105 Strike. Kira here."_

"You alright?" Natarle asked.

"_Yes."_

"Do you have our position?"

"_Yes."_

"Then return. You're able to do that right?"

"_Yes."_

The Strike started moving toward the Archangel when Kira heard a beep. He looked around and saw something floating near him.

"Hey, it's a Heliopolis lifeboat."

The Astray Green floated into the catapult as the hatch closed behind her. The cockpit opened as Cassandra took off her helmet and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "This is one hell of a mobile suit." She said to herself. The young pilot stepped out of the cockpit as she looked around. "Where's the Strike?" She asked the technicians.

"Its heading back. The kid actually survived." Murdoch said.

"Good. I need to have a talk with that pilot." Cassandra said.

"So what do you plan to do now?" Mu asked Murrue.

"Our ship is still in a combat situation. Have you detected the ZAFT vessels?"

_"It's impossible. There's too many heat signatures among the debris so our laser and thermal detectors are useless." _Mitsukai said.

"They'll have the same problem. You except they'll come after us?" The Zero pilot asked.

"I believe we should move based on that assumption. But if the enemy tries to attack us right now, we're finished." Murrue replied.

"Well we are if you have that kind of attitude!" Zeke exclaimed as he entered the room with Haro right behind him.

"_Who the hell are you?" _The Balder captain asked.

"What do you mean?" Murrue asked.

"Think about it. We have a mobile suit that took a heavy ion cannon to the face and survived, my invention piloted by a woman who's shown that she can handle a mobile suit, the Hawk of Endymion himself, a Drake-class ship, two Minutemen and two more waiting in the wings." Zeke stated.

"_We'll get through! No problem!" _Haro said.

"Sure they have the rest of the G-Weapons and three vessels, but we took out most of the grunts already and we damaged their commander's machine so I'm sure we can live through this."

"He's right." Natarle said. "But as of now, the Strike, the Astray and the two Minutemen are only machines we can deploy. Lieutenant La Flaga's Zero is still damaged, we don't have anyone to pilot the other mobile suits and the ship itself is badly short-handed. We're in no shape to put up a fight."

"Oh yeah." The brown-haired engineer said with a defeated tone.

"We can go full speed and try to shake them. I've that this is a pretty swift vessel." Mu suggested.

"The enemy's Nazca-class is a high-speed ship as well." Murrue replied. "There's no guarantee of us losing them."

"I suppose we can always surrender, Captain. That's also an option you know."

_"I hope to God that you're joking Mu." _Mitsukai groaned.

"What was that?" Everyone turned and thought Natarle commented on Mu's statement but saw that she was talking on the com-link. "Hold on a minute! Who gave you authorization?"

"What's the situation Ensign Badgiruel?" The acting captain asked.

"The Strike has returned to the ship. However, it seems to be accompanied by one of the lifeboats."

Outside, the Strike was floating near the Archangel with said lifeboat in its hands.

"What do mean you can't permit it? The propulsion system is broken! It was drifting through space. So are you telling me to toss this back out there? There's already refugees on this ship!" Kira exclaimed.

"Relief forces will be here soon. But the Archangel is still in combat so we can't afford to accept refugees at this time."

"Very well. I authorize it." Murrue said.

"Captain?"

"Well if you'll excuse me, I think I found the answer to some of our problems." Zeke said as he floated out of the room with Haro close behind him.

"What did you think he meant by that?" One of the officers asked.

The Strike flew into the hangar and set down the lifeboat as the hatch closed. Two workers started to unseal the hatch as Cassandra floated the white Gundam. The Strike turned gray and Kira exited out of the cockpit.

"Hey, Kira was it?" The purple-eyed coordinators turned and saw his fellow pilot.

"Yes, Ms. Slade. What do you want?"

"First, I just wanted to apologize for slapping you earlier."

"It's all right. I was kind of acting like a brat." Kira admitted in embarrassment.

"Well I should still apologize. I've been trained for combat situation and you only just piloted a mobile suit today."

"I like I said it's alright." He was interrupted by the sound of the lifeboat opening up. The two pilots looked and saw a familiar (to Kira) red-haired girl dressed in all pink. Birdy flew out of Kira's collar and flew toward Flay as Kira chased after it. It chirped and Flay looked up at the two.

"Oh I know you. You're one of Sai's friends!" She said with a smile as she floated up to him."

"Flay?" Kira said as Flay hugged him. "Is it really you Flay Allster?"

"Please, tell me what happened to Heliopolis. What was going on? What happened there in the end? I was with... my friends...I lost Jessica and Misha in a Florence store and I ran alone to a shelter and then everything..." She choked on the last part, saddened by the day's events. "This is a ZAFT ship, right? What's gonna happen to us? And what in the world are you doing here?

"This vessel belongs to NATO." Kira responded.

"He's right." Cassandra said as she floated near the two.

"Who are you?"

Cassandra smiled with a salute. "Chief Warrant Officer Cassandra Slade. Let me be the first to welcome you to the Archangel."

"And guess what. Sai and Miriallia are here too." Kira followed up. "I know you're gonna be just fine."  
_The Vesalius..._

"Who could have anticipated something like this? What will you do? The council won't overlook the annihilation of a neutral colony." Adas asked Rau.

"How can a colony that was building new weaponry for NATO be considered neutral?" The masked man retorted.

"But commander.."

"Most of the residents had enough time to escape, so it really isn't an issue. Especially in light of the Bloody Valentine tragedy." He turned toward a seated officer. "Have you been able to locate the enemy's new battleship?"

"Not under these conditions."

"You still intend to pursue them?" Adas asked. "But how can we when we've lost our mobile suits?"

"What do you mean? We have the four machines we acquired from the Earth Forces."

"Are you suggesting we use those?" Rau nodded.

"Now that we're finished with the data extraction, I don't see why we can't use them. Bring up a map of the area."

Back at the Archangel, the rescue civilians were sitting in the ships cafeteria. Kira, Flay and Cassandra walked in. The Heliopolis students were surprised to see Flay. She rushed toward Sai and hugged him. This brought a smile to both of the pilots, although their was a hint of sadness in Kira's eyes. Zeke and Haro walked into the room.

"Well Mr. Yamato, you've done me and this ship a huge favor."

"What do you mean?" Zeke walked past the pilots.

"Attention everybody!" The refugees turned toward the engineer. "I know you've all been through a lot today but I have just one question. Can anyone here pilot a mobile suit?"

The refugees started talking amongst themselves. "You see, we have two inactive Minuteman units on this ship. We just need someone to pilot them."

"Why are you asking them?" Kira asked. "We have the Strike and the Astray. Isn't that enough?"

"Unfortunately no. The enemy has shown that they are willing to use the stolen G-Weapons and has three armed ships. Do you really think you can handle them on your own?" Kira looked down in shame. "Besides its not like I'm forcing anyone to this."

Two people walked toward the brunette coordinators. They were the gamers from the arcade.

"You two know how to pilot mobile suits?" Cassandra asked.

"No but I've spent over 120 hours in a simulator." The tall asian man said.

"Same for me." His shorter female counterpart said.

"Go enough for me. What are your names?" Zeke asked.

"Takashi Ikari." The tall man said.

"Mikeva Lago." The short woman said.

"We you better get to hangar cause I don't think we have a lot of time before the enemy attacks." Zeke said. The two gamers smiled at each other and floated out of the room. Zeke looked at Cassie.

"Are you okay with this?" The ebony-haired soldier nodded.

"Its different when civilians volunteer." The two of them left the room as Kira looked on with gritted teeth.

"Prepare decoy!" Murrue ordered. "As soon as the decoy has cleared the ships, we'll start the main engines and lay in a course directly toward Artemis. We will then switch to inertial flight in order to avoid enemy detection. Level 2 battlestations. Now reposition the ship as quickly as possible."

"A silent run until we reach the Artemis base. It should take us about two hours." Mu stated. "Now its up to luck."

_The Vesalius..._

"Perhaps they hid among the debris of Heliopolis and left this are undetected." Adas theorized.

"No. We can rule that out. They're probably sitting very still somewhere." Rau said as he looked over the holographic map of the area. "A net? Why not?"

"A net? What do you mean by that?"

"Number 3, fire decoy!" Natarle ordered. A pod flew from one of the Archangel's missile pods and flew off at high speeds.

"Large heat source detected!" A crew member of the Vesalius reported. "Projected Route: Vessel will circle around the Earth and head for the moon!"

"Fire up main engines, change course and then let's head out for Artemis!" Murrue ordered. The ships turned and headed foreword.

"Commander?"

"I'm convinced that's a decoy." Rau said.

"But perhaps we should confirm with the Gamow." Adas said.

"No, they'll be heading out to Artemis. I'm more sure now than ever before." The masked man said. "Launch the Vesalius! Get Cellman on the line!'

In his quarters, Athrun floated up from his bed as the ship moved. He turned toward the empty bed next to his and frowned.

"_Rusty." _

The door opened and an angry Miguel walked in. "You mind telling me what that was all about?"

"What do you mean?" The blue-haired coordinator asked.

"Don't play dumb!" The so-called Magic Bullet yelled as he slammed his fist against the wall. "You could have trashed the Strike right then and there but you stood their with your thumb up your ass and let him get away!"

On the Archangel, Takashi and Mikeva looked up at the spare Minutemen in astonishment.

"Never thought I would ever see a Minuteman up close." Takashi said.

"Definitely more impressive than on the news." Mikeva commented.

"Glad you like them." Cassandra said as she and Zeke flew toward the two volunteers. "I'm Cassandra Slade."

"Ezekiel Hudson. But feel free to call me Zeke."

"_Zeke! Zeke!' _Haro said as the robotic ball floated in between them.

"What the hell is that?!" Takashi backed away.

"It's so cute!" Mikeva said.

"That's Haro. He's an artificial A.I. I built." Zeke said.

Takashi floated away and saw Kira standing on the walkway in front of the Strike. "Who's that?" The three young adults turned and saw the young coordinators.

"That's Kira Yamato, the pilot of the Strike." Zeke answered. The group floated toward him.

Kira looked up toward the machine as he remembered what Mu and Cassandra said to him.

"_Kira, you have the ability to make a difference right? Then why not put it to good use?" _

"_Are you so high and mighty that you'll let everyone on this ship die?!"_

"I know how to operate the mobile suit. But that doesn't mean I can fight in battle." Kira said to himself, unaware of the four people that heard him.

"That's the pilot?" Takashi asked.

"But he's just a kid." Mikeva said.

"Kid or not, he rewrote the OS so he's the only one who can pilot it." Zeke said. "Come on, we've work to do." Zeke, Haro, Mikeva and Takashi floated toward the MS as Cassandra looked at Kira.

_The Vesalius..._

"_Athrun Zala, reporting as requested." _

"Right. Come in." Rau said as Athrun walked into his office.

"I was hoping to speak with you earlier, but I've been rather busy." Rau said as he finished typing on his terminal."This Heliopolis incident has cost a lot of fuss."

"Sir, I would like to apologize for what happened during the previous battle." Athrun said.

"I don't intend to punish you. You went yourself. I am curious to hear your explanation Athrun. Go ahead."

Athrun said nothing.

"I gathered you were near that machine when it activated."

"I deeply regret my conduct. I was quite upset by the events that were unfolding and I failed to report the incident. That final machine... I saw who the pilot was. My friend Kira. We attended the same lunar prep school. He's a coordinator."

"Oh?"

"Yes sir. I never dreamed we would meet again like this. I had to fin out for sure."

"I see. Irony abounds in warfare." Rau got up from his desk. "No, I don't blame you for being upset. I can imagine you were very close to this friend."

"Yes."

"Very well. I'm taking you off the next sortie. I think its best." Athrun looked at the masked man with surprise. "You wouldn't be able to point a gun at such a friend and I have no desire to put you in that position."

"No! Commander couldn't you..."

"Even if he was your friend, now that he might be an enemy we must eliminate him. I'm sure you can understand that."

"Kira... he fails to see that he's being manipulated by the naturals. Brilliant as he is, he's also naive and good-natured. They're exploiting him but he's blind to it. That's why I have to back! I have to reason with him!" Athrun exclaimed. "Kira is still a fellow coordinator! I'm positive he'll come around to our way of thinking!"

"I know how you feel. However, what if he won't listen to you?" Rau asked. Athrun's expression saddened as he looked down.

"If that should happen... I'll shot him down myself."

_The Archangel..._

"Large heat source detected. Indicating a warship engine. Distance: 200. Yellow. 33,17. Mark 302." A crewman reported as the Vesalius flew a few feet from the Archangel."

"Beside us?" Mu asked. "But we're heading in the same direction."

"Are they on to us?" Murrue asked.

"They're a fair distance away." Natarle said.

"Object outpacing us. Identified as a Nazca-class vessel."

"They're positioning themselves ahead of us to cut us off from the pass." Mu growled.

"Where's the Laurasia-class?" Natarle asked.

"Hold on a moment. There's a heat source following us. 300 to stern. When did that appear?"

"We know the Laurasia-class will eventually overtake us. But if we use our engines to outrun it, the Nazca-class will double-back and come right at us. Hey, bring me up a space map and data of the two vessels." Mu ordered.

"Do you have a plan?"

"I'm getting ready to think about it." The Zero pilot smirked.

Alarms blared all around the ship as the Heliopolis refugees started to worry. Kira floated down the hallway.

"Kira!" The young coordinator looked up and saw his friends in NATO uniforms. The guys wore dark blue while Mir wore pink. An officer followed them.

"Tolle? Guys? What's the deal with those NATO outfits?" Kira asked.

"We decided to help out around the ship. They're undermanned right?" Sai said.

"Yeah they wouldn't let us on the bridge without these uniforms." Kuzzey said.

"But don't you think the ZAFT uniforms are cooler?" Tolle asked. "We don't even get a rank badge so these are kind of lame. You always do the fighting. We thought you could use a little company."

"Since we're all in this thing together, we plan to help out too in any way we can." Mir said.

"Alright kids, let's move it!" The bespectacled officer pushed them away. "Oh and if you're going to be launching again, make sure you where a pilot suit this time."

"Um... Yes sir." Kira replied.

The Vesalius saw the Artemis base through their window.

"So that's it." Adas said.

"The Umbrella of Artemis. It appears they've already caught onto us. It's active." Rau stated.

"Well we've finally arrived here. But we've failed to capture NATO's new ship." Adas said.

"We've cut them off. The time is now."

The Vesalius rotated toward the Archangel.

On the ship, Kira finished the last strap of a light blue pilot suit.

"Well if that outfit is any indication, I'd say you decided to do it." Kira turned and saw Mu and Cassandra in their purple suits while Luke, Gale, Takashi and Mikeva wore the same colored suit as the young coordinator.

"You said it yourself Lieutenant. The seven of us are the only ones who can defend this ship. Its not that I want to fight. All I want to do is protect because of the people on board." Kira said.

"That's the same for all of us." Mikeva said.

"You won't find many people who like to get in a fight for no reason at all." Mu said. "We fight because it's the only way we can protect ourselves."

"But its always better to fight with people who have your back." Cassandra said.

Kira nodded in acknowledgment.

"Okay then. Let me explain our strategy." As Mu started explaining, Zeke and the technicians worked on the mobile suits.

_A few minutes later..._

"No matter what, think only of protecting this ship and yourselves." Mu said to his fellow pilots. The six of them saluted.

"Right." They all replied. Mu entered his Moebius Zero, Luke, Gale, Cassandra , Takashi entered their respective mobile suits. The unit Takashi entered was an artillery variation of the Minuteman that had a 500mm cannon attached to it back which hung over its right shoulder. This suit was known as the NMS-063W Minuteman Weapon.

The Moebius Zero and Takashi's Minuteman were loaded onto the two catapults.

"_Moebius Zero and Minuteman Weapon lock-on to linear catapult." _

The hatches opened up as the two mobile weapons prepared for takeoff.

"Mu La Flaga, launching!" The Zero zoomed ahead.

"Takashi Ikari, ready to go!" The Minuteman launched as Takashi was pushed back in his seat by the inertia. In a few seconds he sat back up and grabbed the controls. "The simulator definitely didn't have that much of a kick to it."

"_Just follow my lead." _Mu said.

"Roger that." The two machines continued onward. Luke and Gale's Minutemen were loaded next.

"Luke O'Hara, let's do this!"

"Gale Palmer, heading out!" The two mass-produced suit launched.

"Laurasia-class closing in. 50 to stern."

"Fire main engines in two minutes! Strike and Astray, prepare for launch now!" Murrue ordered.

The two mobile suits were loaded onto the linear catapults. Kira sat in the cockpit as he went over the plan in his head.

"_The Lieutenant and Mr. Ikari will sneak ahead and hit the enemy in front. Meanwhile, Luke, Gale, Cassandra and I will protect this ship from the enemy behind us while Ms. Lago will launch as back-up. Is this gonna work?" _

"_Kira?" _He looked up and saw Mir and Zeke on one of the screens. Mir was on the bridge while Zeke was in the mobile suit hanger.

"Miriallia?"

"_From this point on, I will act as the combat operator for the mobile suits and the mobile armor." _

"_We're counting on you guys." _Zeke said with a thumbs up.

"_Counting on you! Counting on you!" _Haro bounced excitedly.

"_Don't worry. We'll protect this ship with all we got." _Cassandra said.

The Strike was equipped with the Aile Pack which consisted of a beam rifle, two beam sabers and the Aile thruster pack.

"_Mount the Aile Striker. The enemy will appear when the Archangel fires its engines. Be ready!" _Natarle told them.

"Right!" The two Gundam pilots responded.

The Lohengrin cannons opened up.

"Fire engines! Now fire the assault cannons! Target the Nazca-class dead ahead!" Murrue ordered.

The Archangel's engines ignited as the ship moved ahead.

"Lohengrin, Fire!" Natarle yelled.

The cannons unleashed twin beams of orange and blue energy that blew away any meteor fragments in its path.

Alarms of the Vesalius blared. "Heat source approaching from ahead! An a larger heat source detected behind it! Its a warship!"

"Take evasive action!" Adas ordered.

"I see we've spooked them and they fired off a round." Rau said.

On the Gamow, the Duel, Buster and Blitz were being loading onto the catapult.

"Remember what you said Athrun. I'm holding you to it." Rau said.

"_Yes sir." _

The hatch of the Vesalius opened and the Aegis took off.

"Nazca-class vessel ahead of us has launched a mobile suit."

"Captain?"

"By all means." Murrue said.

"Have Yamato and Slade launch." Natarle said.

"Kira? Ms. Slade?"

_"On it!"_ Cassandra replied.

_"Okay then."_ Kira said.

The two catapult hatches opened up and revealed the two mobile suits. The stolen G-Weapons flew closer to the ship. The signs gave the all clear.

"Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam heading out!"

"Cassandra Slade, Gundam Astray Green taking off!"

The two Gundams took off. With the Strike's Phase Shift Armor turning the suit blue & white, the machines flew off into the breach.

**Next Time: Phase Shift Down**

Soar through space Gundam! 


	5. Chapter 5

_Phase 5: Phase Shift Down_

The Duel, the Buster and Blitz activated their Phase Shift Armor as they headed toward the Archangel.

"Three heat sources approaching from stern. Distance 67. They're mobile suits ma'am."

"Here they come." Murrue said. The missile tubes and the Valiant linear cannons opened up.

"Machines Identified. They... They're X numbers matching Duel, Buster and Blitz." Everyone on the bridge was surprised by this.

"All of the stolen G-Weapons are being used to engage us?' Murrue asked.

"So what?" Mitsukai asked. "They're just mobile suits, so will destroy them like any other machine."

The Aegis flew through space and saw the Strike and the Astray Green.

"_One unit heading toward us." _Kira said.

"_Let's go." _Cassandra said. The white and blue machine flew ahead.

The Aegis and Strike appeared on the screens of both cockpits.

"It's Kira."

"That...That mobile suit, it's Athrun!"

"Athrun has already left the Vesalius! Don't let him beat us!" Yzak said from the Duel.

"Heh. Like I would." Dearka in the Buster said as the three machines split up.

"Enemy mobile suits separating and spreading out."

"Intercept them! CIC, what's taking you so long?" Murrue asked.

"Laser designator ready?" Natarle asked.

"Yes."

"Luke! Gale! Intercept them and lead them into the cannons firing range!" Mitsukai ordered.

"_Yes Ma'am!" _

"Missile tubes 13 through 18, take aim." The black-haired ensign ordered. "Fire!"

A storm of missiles launched and raced toward the incoming enemies. The two Minutemen followed close behind.

The Aegis ignited its yellow wrist-mounted beam saber as the Strike ignited its pink one. The two mobile suits passed each other.

"_Kira!" _

"Athrun."

"_Stop this! Please put away your sword Kira! We are not enemies! Am I right? Why do we have to fight each other? You're a coordinator like us! Why would you want to fight against your own kind?"_

An alarm blared in Athrun's cockpit as he dodged a stream of beam fire. He turned and saw the Astray Green.

"The sixth mobile suit." Athrun said. The green gundam stopped in front of its white and blue counterpart.

"_Kira, I'll take this guy. You protect the Archangel." _Cassandra said.

"_But..."_

"_If the pilot of the Aegis is important to you, I won't damage the cockpit." _

Kira though for a second before nodding.

"_Alright. Good luck." _The Strike blasted toward the ship. The Astray fired at the Aegis but the red machine dodged the blasts. The Aegis flew toward the Astray with its beam saber at the ready. Cassandra activated her twin-sword rifle's blue beam sabers and the two clashed blades.

"Don't I think I don't know what you're up to!" Athrun said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You natural bastards are manipulating Kira!" The Aegis kicked its opponent away and transformed into its claw mode. He fired Scylla cannon but the Astray Green dodged it. "You took advantage of his good-natured heart and turned into him against his kind!"

"Against his kind? Kira was never part of ZAFT." Cassandra pulled the trigger and the CIWS knocked the red suit back before it turned into its humanoid form.

"Kira is a coordinator! He doesn't belong with you monsters!"

"You think we're monsters?! You attacked a neutral colony and killed innocent civilians! How can you call us the bad guys?" The two mobile suits flew by each other as they fired and dodged beam shots.

"We've only wanted peace! Its the naturals that have attacked us at every turn and made Heliopolis into a target! Its people like you that killed my mother!" The Aegis kicked the twin-sword rifle out of Cassandra's hand. The Astray turned and punched the red mobile suit away. She grabbed her rifle and held it like a tonfa before igniting it.

"You think you're the only one who's ever lost something you racist prick!?" The two beam blades clashed again. "The war is between NATO and ZAFT! Race has nothing to do with it!"

The three stolen mobile suits dodged and blasted the missile away.

"I'll go support Athrun. You guys take care of the legged ship." Yzak said.

"_You got it." _Dearka replied.

"_Roger." _Nicol said.

An alarm blared in the Duel's cockpit as Luke and Gale opened fire on them. The G-Weapons dodged the shots and saw the NATO machines.

"Minutemen?" Dearka asked.

"Don't think we'll let you destroy us with our own weapons!" Gale yelled as he charged at the Buster. The G-Weapon flew above and fired its weapons but the Minuteman dodged the beams.

The Duel flew past the ship and saw the Strike heading toward them. "Well looky here. The one that got away." He aimed his rifle and fired at Kira.

"Oh shit!" Kira dodged the beams. An alarm blared and he dodged the Duel and its beam saber. "The X102 Duel. I won't let you destroy the Archangel!"

The Buster fired its missile payload but Gale dodged it, letting the Archangel's CIWS destroy them. "Damn. These guys are stubborn."

"I'll attack from below. You draw their fire." Nicol said.

"Right." The Buster flew toward the ship and dodged the lasers and bullets that went his way. Dearka aimed his cannons and fired, one of the three shots hitting the ships side. The inside of the Archangel shook violently.

"What's going on?" Flay asked.

"Damn it!" Zeke said as he held onto a railing.

"You bastard!" Luke shot at the Blitz which blocked the shots with its shield. Luke keep firing until his gun clip ran out. "Shit!"

Kira dodged shots fired from Duel.

"That coward!" Yzak yelled. "All he can do is dodge!"

Kira turned and fired his beam rifle as the Duel dodged.

The Aegis and Astray Green clashed beam weapons and backed away. Cassandra blasted toward Athrun and fired her beam rifle, hitting the shin.

"Damn it!"

The Blitz and the Buster flew past the bullets and started to charge at the Archangel from below.

"Captain, we have enemy mobile suit approaching from below."

"We'll use the Gottfrieds. Left roll, 30 degrees, port 20!" Murrue ordered.

The Archangel turned on its side and fired its beam cannons, forcing the two G-Weapons to dodge and abandon their attack as the two Minutemen followed them.

_The Vesalius..._

"Enemy vessel approaching. Distance 740." An officer reported.

"Message from the Gamow. We've confirmed the total combat force is four mobile suits."

"And no mobile armor. Its still not ready for sortie." Rau smirked.

_Back at the battle..._

"Damn it! Damn it!" Kira said as he continued to fire at the dodging Duel, unaware of the drain the constant firing was having on his mobile suit's battery.

"Not the way you fight." Yzak activated the Duel's beam saber and charged at the Strike. Kira blocked it with his shield and pushed him away as the two continued their game of cat and mouse.

Athrun and Cassandra were locked in a battle of sabers. The Astray swung its twin-sword rifle and met with the arm-mounted beam saber of the Aegis. Athrun pressed a switch and activated his foot-mounted beam sabers. Cassandra backed away just in time as a beam saber sliced off the top of her shield.

"Jesus, how overpowered are these things?" She backed away and pulled out her bazooka. The green Gundam unleashed a barrage of high explosives that would have destroyed the Aegis if it lacked its superior speed.

Meanwhile, Takashi and Mu flew through some debris undetected by the Vesalius.

"_Lieutenant, everyone's got their hands full! Should we intervene?" _The volunteer pilot asked.

"Not just yet." Mu said as his Zero flew carefully.

"We will join in the attack Captain." Rau said.

"But our own mobile suits are out there. If we fire the main cannon..."

"Our boys no better than to get caught in friendly fire. The our foes have guns as well."

Ada was unsure about the smirk on the masked man's face. "Prepare to fire main cannons. Target enemy vessel and await my command!"

The Vesalius' cannons aimed at the Archangel.

Kira flew back toward the Archangel to get some cover fire. The Duel followed after him while the Buster and Blitz followed suit.

"Kira!" Athrun and Cassandra yelled. The Astray and the Aegis stopped their battle and rushed toward the group.

The targeting axis on the Zero's screen aligned and turned red. "Got it."

"Laser designator from the Nazca-class is targeting us!"

"Prepare to fire Lohengrin!" Natarle ordered.

"Hold on! The lieutenants' Zero and the Minuteman Weapon are engaging!" Murrue yelled. "Evasive maneuvers!"

"Too risky. Either we fire or draw fire."

"Two Laurasia-class approaching from stern." Murrue slammed her fist down in anger.

"_We'll hold them off." _Mitsukia said as the Balder turned toward the approaching ships and fired.

"Incoming Barrage!" The Gamow and the Dues evade most of the shots but were still hit by a few stray shots.

The Astray and the Strike stood back to back as the enemy G-Weapons surrounded them.

On the Vesalius, Rau felt a familiar presence as the Zero flew from below and Takashi's Minuteman flew from above.

"Boost Engines! Lower bow! Pinch angle 60!" Rau yelled, confusing Adas.

"Two signatures approaching from a above and below. One's a mobile armor and.. It's an Artillery Minuteman!"

"What!?" Adas said astonished. "Activate CIWS! Boost Engines and Lower bow pinch angle 60!"

The CIWS fired in all directions as the two machines flew past the bullets. Mu detached his gunbarrels and Takashi aimed his 500mm cannon. The two of them opened fire on the Vesalius and damaged the ship.

"Alright!" Mu howled as he launched an anchor and used it to launch himself toward the Archangel with Takashi tailing him. "Not bad rookie!"

_"Thanks!" _

"Major damage to engines! We're losing thrust!"

"How the hell did they get another Minuteman? Shoot them down!"

"We're pulling out! Send word to the Gamow and the Dues!" Rau ordered.

"Message from the Lieutenant. Mission Accomplished. Returning to ship."

Everyone on the bridge of the Archangel gave a sigh of relief.

"The last Minuteman unit is asking permission sortie." Mir reported.

"Permission granted." Murrue responded.

The Archangel's second Minuteman Weapon was loaded onto the catapult. This one had a 6-tube missile launcher in place of the 500mm Cannon.

"_You sure you can handle this kid?" _Murdoch asked.

"Don't worry Mr. Murdoch. I'll be fine." Mikeva said. "_I hope."_

_"Minuteman__,__ you're clear for takeoff." _Mir said. "_Good luck."_

The hatch opened and the catapult was revealed.

"Mikeva Lago, Minuteman Weapon, ready for battle!"

The green machine launched into the battle. Nicol read a heat signature on his radar and saw the approaching machine.

"What the hell?"

"Eat this!" Mikeva fired the her missiles. The Blitz and the Aegis were able to dodge the projectiles while the Duel and the Buster were hit and pushed back.

"Damn it!" Yzak yelled.

"Another one?" Dearka asked.

The Minuteman pulled out its assault rifle and fired at the enemy gundams as it stood by the rest of the its fellow mobile suits.

"_Did I miss anything?" _

"_No you're just in time." _Kira said.

"_Thank God for that." _Luke said he put a fresh clip in his machine gun.

"_Save__ the chatter for later! We got a ship to protect!" _Cassandra said as the five machines opened fire. While Cassandra had 75% power and Mikeva had a fresh battery, Kira's power was running dangerously low.

"Lohengrin 1 and 2, standby!" Natarle ordered.

"Message the mobile suits and mobile armor to avoid our ships line of fire." Murrue ordered.

"Opening barrels."

The mobile suits engaged in a firefight as they dodged beams and bullets. The barrels of the Archangel opened up and relieved the Lohengrin cannons. A message appeared in the Creuset team's cockpits.

"The Vesalius was hit?" Yzak asked.

"How?" Nicol followed up.

"They're ordering us to retreat?" Dearka stated.

The Archangel mobile suits moved away as the Lohengrins fired.

"Heat source approaching. Direction 000! Impact in three seconds!"

"Starboard maximum thrust! Evade it!" Rau ordered as the large lasers hit the left wing of the Vesalius, killing several workers.

"Nazca-class verning away from our ships course."

"Signal the mobile suits to return. The Archangel and Balder will continue onto Artemis at maximum combat speed." Murrue said.

The Archangel launched three flares.

"A return signal!" Yzak said. "They're not getting away! Not if I can help it!" The Duel ignited its beam saber and charged at the Strike which dodged.

"Yzak! We've been ordered to retreat!" Athrun said.

"_Keep your mouth shut you coward!" _

The Duel and Strike fought against each other while the Astray, Buster, Minutremen and Blitz engaged in a firefight.

"The guys are surrounded. It doesn't look good."

"Give them backup now!" Murrue said.

"Its impossible with that melee. Distance from the mobile suit team increasing."

"I'm concerned about the Strike's remaining power supply." Natarle said.

"I know. Where's the Lieutenant?" Murrue asked.

The Minuteman Weapon and Moebius Zero were racing back.

"They can't get back?" Takashi asked.

"Damn it." Mu growled.

The Buster fired its rifles as the Astray blocked them with its shield. The Minutemen flew away from the Blitz as their machine guns keep it on edge. The Duel charged at the Strike with both sabers set to kill. Kira turned to fire but the rifle didn't fire. He looked and saw his power was in the red. "Out of power? No way, my armor!" The Phase Shift of the Strike powered down.

"I got ya!" The Duel closed in on the Strike as Kira closed his eyes but it the blow never came. He opened his eyes and saw that the Aegis had him in its claw mode.

"No you don't!" Mikeva aimed her rifle but the Astray Green pushed it away.

"Hold your fire! You could hit the Strike!"

"_What are you doing Athrun?" _Yzak asked.

"_I'm capturing this machine."_

"_What was that!?"_

"_We were told to destroy it! You're disobeying orders!" _Dearka yelled.

"_If we have the chance to capture it, all the the better! Now let's go!" _

"_Athrun!" _

The Buster, Duel and Blitz followed the Aegis with the Astray and Minutemen not far behind it.

"_What do we do? There's no way we can take all of them at once." _Gale stated.

"_We'll need a miracle." _Cassandra said.

"Message from Lieutenant La Flaga. Prepare to deploy Launcher Striker with the catapult." The bridge crew were dumbfounded by the message.

"Athrun, what are you up to?" Kira asked as he was taken away.

"_I'm taking you to the Gamow."_

"Get serious! I'm not gonna set foot on any ZAFT ship!"

"_You're a coordinator. You're one of us, Kira."_

"NO! I won't join ZAFT!"

"_That's enough Kira! Quiet! Just let me take you! Otherwise... otherwise I'll have no choice but to shoot you." _

"Athrun."

"_I already lost my mom in the Bloody Valentine. So..." _An alarm blared and the Zero and Takashi's Minuteman Weapon flew at them.

"BANZAI!" Takashi yelled as he fired his machine gun and cannon while Mu launched his gunbarrels. The blasts hit Athrun and he was forced to let go of the Strike.

In his cockpit, Luke smiled. "You aways come through, Lieutenant."

"_Was there ever any doubt? Kira, get out of here! The Archangel is sending out the Launcher Striker." _The Zero dodged shots fired from the Aegis. "_We still got a big one our tail. Get ready for it!" _

"_I understand!" _The Strike blasted toward the Archangel.

"_Lago, Ikari! Guard the Strike! Slade, Luke, Gale, you're with me!" _The Minuteman Weapons followed after the Strike as Cassandra ignited her TSR and flew toward the enemy G-Weapons.

"He's escaped!" The Duel and Buster flew toward the retreating machines.

"I've had enough of you!" Gale ignited his heat saber and swung at the Duel. The blue machine blocked the hit but the saber actually damaged the shield.

"He actually caused some damage?" Yzak said in surprise.

The catapult opened up. The Blitz fired at the Zero but the Astray blocked it with its shield. The Buster and the Minuteman fired their cannons that met in a blast of light. The Duel kicked Gale away and headed toward the Strike. Mikeva looked at her ammo status and saw that she only had 8 shots left. "Damn."

The Strike aligned with the catapult. "Launching now!" Zeke yelled as the Launcher pack was shot into space. The Aile Pack and shield detached from the powered down gundam. Yzak aimed his rifle at the Strike as the targeting axis aligned and turned red.

"Locked onto me?" The combo missile pack attached to the shoulder. The Duel fired a grenade at him.

"Kira no!' Tolle yelled as everyone on the bridge held their breath.

"No time to aim!" Mikeva pulled the trigger and fired her last bullets at the approaching grenade. The Agni cannon attached just as the grenade exploded, making it impossible to see the Strike.

"Did I get it?" Yzak asked. A red laser blasted through the smoke and destroyed the Duel's right arm. "Damn it!" The silver-haired coordinator cursed.

Kira charged and fired his Agni cannon, causing the Duel to back away.

"_Yzak, we need to retreat.." _Athrun said.

"What?!"

"_The Vesalius has been damaged and we're starting to run low on power." _

"_I agree with Athrun." _Nicol said. "_If we don't fall back soon, we'll be the ones running on empty." _

The four enemy mobile suits retreated as everyone on the Archangel and the Balder cheered.

"We made it! We made it!" Zeke and Haro cheered together while Murdoch smirked.

_The Gamow..._

Yzak pushed Athrun against a locker. "You stupid bastard! Why did you go against orders!?"

"Stop it Yzak!" Nicol cried. "The enemy is out there, not in here."

"Besides, we never expected them to have extra mobile suits." Dearka stated.

"That just makes it more humiliating!" Yzak let go of Athrun and floated out of the room with Dearka following him.

"Athrun, I can't help think that this isn't like you. What's going on?" Nicol asked.

"Could you just let me be alone for a while?" Athrun asked as he floated out of the room.

_The Archangel..._

"Message from Artemis. Permission to enter port granted. Inspecting officer is being sent."

In the hangar, the pilots were getting out of their mobile suits. Mikeva was drowsy from the adrenaline withdraw while Takashi vomited in a bag. Mu shook his head. "Rookies." He looked up and saw Kira floating out of the Strike.

On the Balder, Mitsukai received a message from the second-in command of Artemis. The man on the screen was a skinny man with short spiky purple hair and green eyes signaling his status as a coordinator. (Voice: Robin Atkin Downes)

"_This is Lieutenant Manchester Black of Artemis. Identify yourself if you would be so kind." _ He said with a British accent.

"Lieutenant Mituskia Nagasawa of the ESS-Balder. What gives? We've already gotten permission to enter port."

"_We let's just say that things have been getting hectic since Heliopolis went under. So we have take extreme precautions." _

Two officers walked into the bridge of the Archangel as Murrue and Natarle saluted them and they did the same. "Thank you sir. We're grateful that you gave us permission to enter port."

The Archangel turned around and backed into the port, going through a section where the lightwave barrier cut off. The ship entered and the barrier filled up behind. As they entered the port, Cassandra felt a pulse in her mind. She looked through the window with a far off look.

"Ms. Slade, are you alright?" The Astray pilot turned and saw Flay and Sai.

"Yes. Everything's alright." She said with a smile.

Zeke and Haro walked into the room as Zeke looked at the Umbrella of Artemis like a child on Christmas. "Amazing! A real lightwave barrier."

"Yep. That's the Umbrella of Artemis. I heard that it would take nothing short of a nuclear blast to destroy it." Sai said.

"That's why I'm a proud NATO soldier." Cassandra said. "ZAFT may have made the first mobile suits, built we built the barrier and the Gundams."

"Gundam?" Zeke asked. "What's that?"

"The Strike and Astray Green have a start-up acronym that spells it out."

"Kira called it a Gundam too." Sai said.

"That's a pretty cool name." Flay said before turning to Zeke. "By the way, I don't think we've meet. I'm Flay Allster."

"I'm Ezekiel Hudson. But feel free to call me Zeke." He pointed to his robotic companion. "And this little guy is Haro."

"_Hello! Hello!" _The little green ball bounced as Flay giggled.

As the Archangel and the Balder docked, several soldiers in normal suits aimed their guns at the ships.

"Captain?" Natarle warned.

"What's going on out there?" Tolle asked.

"Well commander?" Murrue asked.

"I must advise you captain, remain silent." The commander said in a monotone voice.

In the bowels of the base, a lone man floated inside of a tube, frozen like a statue. His hand twitched and clenched into a fist.

**Next time: The Vanishing Gundam******

**Brace yourself for the unseen future Gundam!**

**Hey guys! I've been wondering if I should have an opening theme for this story. Also, here's the specs for the Minuteman Weapon:**

**Mobile Unit: NMS-063W Minuteman Weapon**

**Unit Type: Mass Production Artilley Mobile Suit**

**Manufacturer: Weston Industries**

**Operators: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European Union**

**Known Pilots: Many**

**Height: 18.5 meters**

**Max Weight: 58.8 metric tons**

**Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery**

**Accommodations: Pilot only, cockpit in torso**

**Armor: Unknown**

**Special Equipment and Design Features: Sensors**

**Fixed Armament: 1x Heat Saber, Shield**

**Optional Fixed Armaments: 500mm Cannon, 6-Tube Missile Launcher, Railcannon**

**Optional Armament: 90mm Machine Gun**

**Technical and Historical Notes: With the success of the original Minuteman, many variants were made for different combat situations. One of these was the Minuteman Weapon, a mobile suit meant for heavy combat. This unit was built from combat data from the GINN's D-Type Equipment. The main feature is that the weapons are attached to its back and mounts over the right shoulder. The 500mm Cannon is used for attacking bases or ships, the missile launcher is meant for mobile suit combat and the Railcannon is used for long-range precision fire. While the regular Minuteman units would attack head-on, the main role of the Minuteman Weapon was to take down heavily armed targets and provide cover for its allies. **

**Appearance: Same as the Minuteman. The 500mm Cannon is from the Daughtress Weapon, the missile launcher is from the GM Ground Type and the Railcannon is from the the Land Combat Type GM. **

**Colors: Dark Green limbs with parts of gray, orange cockpit.**

**So look forward to this bad boy and check out the next chapter for the new timeline. Until then, please read and review!**


	6. Chapter 6

_Phase 6: The Vanishing Gundam_****

Several EU soldiers in normal suits came aboard the Archangel. The civilians were gathered in the cafeteria along with Kira, Flay and Sai. They were watching the soldiers surrounding the ship through the view screen. ****

"Alright, freeze!" Everyone turned and saw a group of soldiers with their rifles aimed at them. "Don't move!" The same thing was happening all over the ship. ****

"What are you doing?" Murrue asked in anger. ****

In the MS hanger, the workers were being brought to one area with their hands behind their heads, including Mu, Takashi, Mikeva and Zeke. ****

"This happens way too often." Zeke sighed. "Why are you doing this?" He walked up to one of these the soldiers. "If this is because of the Gundam, I have a logical explanation. You see..." ****

"Back up!" The soldier aimed his rifle at him and Zeke quickly backed away. ****

"Lieutenant Commander Bidalf, I request an explanation for these actions." Natarle said. "I assure you we..."****

"I'm only locking down the ship's controls and fire control system as part of our standard security measures." Bidalf responded. ****

"Locking down? But there's no need for that." ****

"Your vessel isn't recorded within the ship registry. Naturally, we have no identification code for it. Given the circumstances, we gave you permission to enter port. Unfortunately, it hasn't yet been determined if we recognize you as friendly." ****

"But that doesn't..."****

"This is a military facility. At the very least, I'd appreciate it if you keep that in mind. Now I would like the officers to brief us on the current situation. You shall accompany me." ****

In few minutes, Murrue, Mu, Natarle and Mitsukai were lead into a shuttle that flew toward the CO's office. While on the Archangel, the rest of the crew was brought to the cafeteria. ****

_The Commander's office..._****

"The top-secret military project of NATO. Who would have guessed it would jump right into our laps?" The balding commander said he looked at an image of the Archangel on the big screen behind his desk. ****

"So those rumors circulating about Heliopolis were true after all." Manchester stated. He took out a pad and browsed through the cargo manifest. "Looks like the only G-Weapon they were able to keep was the X-105 Strike. However, there's another G-Weapon on the ship that isn't in the database."

The commander though for a minute before chuckling. "Orb's more clever than I thought." ****

"They help us with our MS project and use it to make their own. Sneaky little wankers." The purple-haired coordinator said.****

"_Excuse me sir. I've brought with me four officers from the ships." _A man said through the door.****

"Yes enter." The door opened as the three woman and one man entered the office. "Greetings. Welcome to Artemis."****

On the ship, the civilians were talking amongst themselves. ****

"Well this sucks." Mikeva complained. ****

"I know they're soldiers, but isn't this a little extreme?" Takashi asked. ****

"The European Union is an ally of NATO. Don't they have good relations?" Sai asked. ****

"That's not the problem." Zeke said. "The problem is that the Archangel doesn't have an identification code." ****

"Is it really that big of deal?" Tolle asked. ****

"Of course it is. The smallest breach in security could mean disaster." Gale stated.****

"Well then, we just have to wait for the Captains to sort this out and we'll be fine." Luke said as he put in feet on the table. ****

Kira signed at the situation they were in. Cassandra on the other hand had something else on her mind.

"_What is this presence I'm feeling?" _The gundam pilot though to herself.

"Mu, you old son of a gun!" Manchester said with smile.

"Chester, good to see ya." The Zero pilot said as the two of them shook hands.

"What, no hello for me?" Mitsukai asked with a fake pout.

"Of course not Mitsu dear." Chester took her hand and kissed it. "I should've known it was you two fighting out there."

"You know each other?" Natarle asked.

"Of course we know each other. You're looking at three of the founding members of the Mjolnir Corps." Mu stated.

"I though you said you were from the 8th Orbital Fleet." Murrue said.

"I was transferred for the escort mission."

"All we're missing is Gaius and Sosuke." Mitsukai stated.

"Funny you should mention that." Chester said before the commander interrupted with a fake cough. "Oh, right. Gentleman and Ladies, this Commander Gerard Garcia."

"Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, Ensign Natarle Badgiruel and Lieutenant Mitsukai Nagasawa. Look's like your IDs has been proven to be legitimate NATO."****

"We apologize if we caused any trouble." Mu said. ****

"Think nothing of it. As a matter of fact, I'm well acquainted with your illustrious name. You're the one they call the Hawk of Endymion. I too saw my share of action while stationed at the Grimaldi Front."****

"Then you were with Commodore Villere's unit."****

"That's right. The battle may have ended in defeat for the Earth Forces, but your heroic feat in single handedly taking out five GINNs gave us a surely needed morale boost."****

"Thank you sir." ****

"However, who would have dreamed that you would end up on that ship of all places."****

"My team and I are on a special mission. Unfortunately, we're not at liberty to disclose any information at this time." The blond pilot replied. ****

"I understand. But it will be difficult to supply you right away." ****

"It's absolutely vital that we head to Lunar HQ as soon as humanly possible." Murrue stated. "As you know, we're being pursued by ZAFT."****

"By ZAFT?" Garcia pressed a button his desk and the screen behind them changed into a live feed of the Gamow floated just outside Artemis. ****

"The Laurasia-class?" Natarle asked.****

"As you can see, the ship has been roaming around outside of the Umbrella. They've been there for a short while now. One or two vessels are of little concern here, but if you were to resupplied, it would still mean you'd be unable to depart."****

"They won't abandoned their pursuit of the Archangel." Mu said.****

"These guys destroyed Heliopolis. We have to leave before they do the same thing to Artemis." Mitsukai said. To everyone's surprise, the commander started laughing.****

"Did I hear you right? Artemis destroyed? They're powerless to do anything to us and they'll eventually leave. It happens all the time. At any rate, I suggest you get some R&R. You appear to be exhausted. I'll have your quarters prepared."****

"Commandant, couldn't we..." An officer walked in and saluted. ****

"We'll have an chance to get in touch with Lunar Headquarters once they leave. We'll make arrangements afterward."****

"You're that certain that Artemis is safe?" Mu asked. ****

"As safe as an infant in its mother's arms." The four officers were escorted out of the room. The commander turned to his XO with a serious expression. "Prepare the Icarus units and the Hyperion. Wake up Gaius."

"You got it." Manchester said with a smirk.****

_On the Gamow..._****

"The Umbrella deflects all lasers and projectiles coming at it. Although the same can be said for anything going out." Captain Zelman explained.****

"So what it comes down to is that they won't be attacking us." Dearka stated. "What a perfectly lame invention."****

"Although as a purely defensive weapon, its quite the achievement. This base hasn't had any strategic importance, so up to this point our forces have pretty much ignored it. At the present, we don't have the means to breakthrough that umbrella. They're hold up in a tricky spot." ****

"So what's the strategy then? Kick back and relax until they come out?" The buster pilot said as he chuckled. ****

"Stop clowning around Dearka!" Yzak yelled. "When the commander comes back, do you want to be the one to tell him we weren't able to do anything?" This effective stopped the blond's laughter. ****

Nicol looked at the map while thinking up something. "But the Umbrella of Artemis doesn't stay open all the time does it?" ****

"It only remains active while enemies remain in the area. But even if we were to approach it when it was closed, they would still be able to detect us before we got in range of the fortress and reactivate the Umbrella." ****

"My own machine, the Blitz, might just be able to give us the advantage we need to pull this off. It has the same PSA as the other mobile suits, but it also has another interesting feature." ****

The Gamow made a complete 360% turn and flew away from the meteor station. ****

_Artemis Observation Booth..._****

The commanders XO walked into the room. "Anything yet?" The bald man asked. ****

"Sir, it's proceeding smoothly. We're still in the process of examining the unregistered vessel. However about the unknown mobile suit..."****

In the Archangel's MS Hangar, an engineer tried to access the OS of the Astray Green. The screen changed into an image of a Chibi Zeke sticking his tongue out and making an L sign. ****

"_Access Denied. Try Again loser." _The computer said.****

In another room many scientists were working on terminals. The main scientist was a bespectacled man with black hair and brown eyes. (Voice: Gabriel Mann) In the middle of the room was a large tube with a sole inhabitant. It was a man of middle-eastern descent with long unruly brown hair and a full beard. His body was covered in scars and the only article of clothing he had were a pair of black shorts. (Voice: Crispin Freeman) A scientist slide his access key and pressed a few buttons and the water was drained from the tube before the glass lifted up. The man fell on his knees and coughed. ****

"Are you alright Captain?" One of the scientist asked.****

"Ya. Just a little disorientated." The man got up and stretched. He opened his eyes which were revealed to be blue as the sky. "So what does Garcia need this time?"****

"Two NATO ships have docked into port. Their mobile suit force is one G-Weapon, four Minutemen one Zero and one unknown."**  
**

"An unknown?" Gaius said as he sat an energy bar he was given. He walked toward a locker and pulled out a white Earth Forces uniform.****

"Personally I think it's an Orb mobile suit." ****

"An orb mobile suit?" Gaius asked as he finished buttoning his suit. "This I gotta see." ****

_The Gamow..._****

"Distance from Artemis 3500 and still no change in the Lightwave Barrier." ****

In the MS hangar, Nicol sat in the cockpit of the Blitz as he prepared to sortie. "Mirage Colloid voltage check. System all green, ready to launch." He stopped and took a deep breath. "Trial and error with an untested system. I really hope this works." ****

"NATO can sure come up with some bizarre stuff." Yzak commented as he and Dearka lounged in the observation booth. ****

"It seems appropriate for Nicol. A weapon fit for a coward." Dearka said. ****

The alarms blared as the clamps lifted off the Blitz moved to the catapult. ****

_The Archangel..._**  
**

Manchester entered the cafeteria as the EU soldiers saluted. "Sorry about all the confusion folks. Things here have gotten hectic since Heliopolis got the crap bombed out of it, so I hope we didn't scare anyone too much." ****

Arnold walked to the British coordinator. "Sir, we were wondering if you could schedule a pick-up for the refugees."

"Well that might be problem with ZAFT waiting outside." ****

"So does that mean we're stuck here?" Luke asked.

"Of course not. Eventually they'll get tired and leave. It happens all time. And when they leave, we'll get a transport for all the civies here and take them back to Orb."

The refugees started talking and smiling at this new information. Kira let out a sigh of relief. _"Finally, I can leave and put this whole mess behind me." _

"Alright all, you're free to walk around the harbor but stay away from any restricted areas. Also, the commander wants the techies and mobile suit pilots to report to the hangar." Manchester said as he left as the soldiers and the refugees started to walk out. Cassie started to walk to the hangar before feeling a pang in her head.

"_Greetings lass. Can you hear me?" _

The Astray pilot turned and saw Chester looking at her.

"_Well? Aren't you gonna say something?" _The XO said without moving his lips.

"_What's going on? How are you doing this?" _Cassie thought.

"_The same way that Mu La Flaga and Rau Le Creuset can always sense each other. We might not have been born the same way lass, but we have been given a gift."_

"_What gift?"_

"_I suggest you get to the hangar. Garcia doesn't like it when people are late." _Manchester turned and started walking toward the hangar. Cassandra looked at the man in confusion.

"Cassie?" She snapped out of her thoughts and saw Zeke and Haro. "Are you okay?"

The young pilot smiled. "Yup. Just got some things on my mind." ****

Kira turned toward the other volunteer pilots. "What do you think they want?"

"They probably want to inspect the Strike and the Astray Green. They're the only machines ZAFT didn't take." Takashi responded.

"And they'll probably give us metals for our bravery." Mikeva said with a smile.

"That would be pretty awesome." Takashi said. "After all, the ladies love a war hero."****

Mikeva snorted. "As if." ****

_Outside..._****

The Umbrella of Artemis was deactivated as no enemies were detected within defensive perimeter. A few kilometers away, the hatch of the Gamow's catapult opened up. The Blitz was launched as Nicol activated the gas-spread particles, effectively rendering the mobile suit invisible and undetectable. ****

On the Archangel, the group arrived in front of the mobile suits. They saw Garcia standing with Mu, Murrue, Natarle and Mitsukai. ****

"The Astray Green has this annoying lock so we aren't able to fully examine the OS. Mr. Hudson, if you would be so kind?" Garcia asked. ****

"Sure." Zeke said as pushed off the ground and floated up to his invention. ****

"Wait a minute! What do you need the Astray's OS for?" Kira asked. ****

"Isn't it obvious? They want to use the OS for their own mobile suits. Am I right commander?" Takashi asked. ****

"Right on the dot, Mr. Ikari." Garcia said. ****

"So it is true." Everyone turned and saw Gaius walk in with Sosuke behind him. "The G-Weapons are more impressive in person. And from the battle footage I've seen, they're pretty tough." ****

"One of the reasons I'm proud I was born a coordinator." Zeke said as entered the Astray Green's cockpit and typed away on the keyboard.****

"I had a feeling that was that case." Garcia said. ****

"I thought NATO hated coordinators." Takashi stated.****

"Many people have interpreted this war as a battle between species when that's not the case at all." Garcia stated.

"Then what is war about?" Kira asked.

"Tell me, do you of the April Fools Crisis?"

"Yes sir." Mitsukai said. "After the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, ZAFT scattered countless N-Jammers across Earth's surface. Since Earth relies on nuclear fission as its primary power source, the nations on the planet were plunged into a severe energy crisis called the April Fool's Crisis as a result. And during the winter, at least hundreds of thousands died on Earth because of lack of energy for heating, due directly to the presence of N-Jammers on Earth."

"Correct Lieutenant." The balding commander said. "We haven't counted up the total losses yet, but we projected that the death toll far exceeds that of the Bloody Valentine."

"But Blue Cosmos was responsible for that." Gale stated.

"I know, but the PLANTs are blaming all Naturals for the tragedy." ****

**"**I know what you mean. The Le Creuset team pilots keep sprouting anti-natural nonsense when we were fighting them." Cassandra stated. She walked toward Kira and pulled him aside. "Excuse us for a second." She pulled the young coordinator away so that no one could hear them. "Alright Kira, spill it. How do you know the pilot of the Aegis?" ****

Kira said nothing for a second before he looked down. "If I tell you, promise you won't tell anyone else." ****

**"**Don't worry, I swear on my honor as a soldier I won't tell."****

**"**The pilot... His name is Athrun Zala. We went to the same lunar prep school together. We were planning to meet up at the PLANTs before the war broke out. But he's changed." ****

**"**What do you mean?" ****

**"**Athrun always said that the nations on Earth and the PLANTs would see eye to eye. He hated the idea of war. I never thought he would join ZAFT." ****

**"**When I fought him, he said it was the naturals that killed his mother. He's probably taking his anger out on all naturals." ****

**"**But that doesn't make any sense! How could he think that taking his hatred out of the naturals will make things any better?" Kira asked. ****

Cassandra placed her hand on Kira's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "Listen Kira. When people experience tragedy, they always try to find someone to blame even if its illogical. The PLANTs are still grieving over the Bloody Valentine Tragedy so they're doing what Athrun is doing and placing blame on all naturals while ignoring any blame or reparation for the April Fool's Crisis." She let go and started walking back to the group. "Just remember this Kira. Wars should only be fought by those with a clear head, not by those who are blinded by rage and hate." ****

Outside, the invisible gundam closed in on Artemis. Nicol aimed and fired on one of the barrier generators, causing the inside of the base to shake. He keep opening fire, causing more shakes. ****

**"**What's going on?" Natarle asked. Garcia pulled out his phone.****

**"**Control room, report on the cause of these tremors!" ****

**"**_There's nothing within the perimeter!"_****

**"**It's probably a long range bombardment! Activate the Umbrella!" ****

The main barrier generator unfolded as the Blitz appeared. "There it is!" He ignited his Trikeros beam saber and slashed the generator in half, flying away as it exploded.****

**"**_Sir! Mobile Suit in the area! Our reflectors are being destroyed!" _****

**"**Damn it!" Garcia turned toward the pilots and crew. "I suggest you get your mobile suits up and running. Gaius, go suit up!" ****

The blue-eyed man saluted. "On it boss." He floated away with Garcia and Manchester as Garcia made an announcement for the entire base. ****

**"**_Attention All Forces, we are under attack! All soldiers are to let the officers of the Archangel launch the ship and their mobile suits! All pilot squads, launch the Icarus units as soon as you can! Calibrate the Jerichos and prepare the Hyperion for sortie!" _****

**"**What is he talking about?" Murrue asked. ****

**"**Icarus? Jericho? Hyperion? I've never heard of any of those." Mitsukai stated. ****

**"**Let's worry about that later!" Mu said. "Let's get ready to fight!" The pilots entered their mobile suits as the cockpits closed. The Strike was the first one to move to catapult. ****

The bridge crew got into position. "Start up the engines!" Arnold said. ****

**"**What about the officers?" ****

**"**You rang?" Everyone turned and saw Murrue and Natarle float into the room. ****

**"**Captain Ramius! Ensign Badgiruel!" Mir said. ****

**"**Do as Arnold says. We'll be a sitting duck if we stay."****

In secret hangars all over Artemis, several pilots were getting into mobile armors. However, these armors were not Moebius units. They were 18 meters long and had a sleek cobalt color with white outlines, a gatling gun weapon on its underbelly and two big engines on either side. The most distinctive feature was the sensor unit that looked like the head of a mobile suit. ****

**"**_Weapons check. All Systems green." _The hatches opened up. **"**_TS-MA3 Icarus, launching!" _The new mobile armors flew into battle. The Blitz entered the port as three machines closed in on him. ****

**"**What are those things? New mobile armors?" He opened fire but the armors dodged the blasts and retailed with their linear gatling guns. The Blitz blocked the shots with its shield as they flew past it before they turned around and fired again. The blasts were absorbed by the PS Armor but made the cockpit shake from the impact. Nicol fired his rocket anchor and caught an Icarus unit before pulling it toward him and destroying it with his beam rifle. ****

On the Archangel, the Strike was equipped with the Sword Pack as Kira activated the blue & white PS armor. ****

The Blitz moved toward Archangel as it sliced an Icarus with his beam saber. The Strike flew up to meet him as the Astray Green flew past the black mobile suit. "You're not getting away this time!" Nicol fired his rocket anchor as Kira did the same. After the anchor hit and were retracted, Kira activated his beam sword and charged at the Blitz. ****

The Duel and Buster launched from the Gamow and flew toward Artemis. An alarm went off in their cockpits as the Astray Green and five Icarus units flew toward them. ****

**"**I won't let you bastards destroy this base!" Cassandra yelled as she activated her Twin-Sword Rifle and charged at the Duel. ****

**"**It's that green mobile suit!" Yzak managed to dodged the attack and pulled out his own beam saber. He swung and the two weapons clashed. Dearka aimed his rifles and fired at the incoming mobile armors but they separated with only one unit being destroyed. "These aren't Moebius units!" He tried to shoot them down but the armors were too fast as they attacked with their gatling guns, weakening the PS armor little by little. ****

Cassandra pushed the Duel back and fired but the Duel blocked the shots with its shield. Yzak pulled out his own rifle and fired a grenade but it was shot down by the Astray's CIWS. The two gundams engaged in a dogfight as they fired and dodged beams shot at them. ****

The Strike dodged a shot fired by the Blitz and swung its sword only for the enemy gundam to evade it. Kira flew after it as the Nicol fired the lancer darts which were destroyed by the beam sword. ****

**"**Sir, we have the enemy ship within our sights." One of the officers of the observation booth reported. ****

**"**Fire a Jericho! Show these ZAFT bastard why this base will never fall!" Garcia ordered. On the top of the base, a rock formation opened up and revealed a large missile pod. ****

**"**_Rotating Axis at 67% Degrees. Distance 3000. Launching Jericho!" _The pod aligned and launched one of the missiles. The warhead flew faster than a Moebius Zero or an Icarus as it closed in on the Gamow. ****

**"**Incoming heat source. It's a missile!" ****

**"**Shot it down!" Zelman ordered as the Gamow fired its CIWS. The missile came apart and released 76 micro missiles. The missiles hit the Gamow on all sides as the ship shook violently. ****

**"**The Gamow!" Yzak said as his beam rifle as shoot out of his hand. ****

**"**_Stay focused on the enemy in front of you." _Cassandra said as she opened fire. ****

**"**You bitch!" The Duel dodged the shots and charged at the Astray Green with his beam saber. The Astray side-stepped as the beam saber grazed its arm, leaving a scorch mark. "I won't be so cocky for someone without Phase Shift Armor." ****

**"**I've had enough!" Dearka combined his rifles into a high-powered beam sniper rifle and shot an Icarus unit down. He fired again and grazed another but the Icarus still flew toward him. Dearka unloaded all of the Buster's missiles and destroyed the damaged Icarus along with another. The last Icarus flew toward the smoke with it gatling gun blazing Dearka aimed at him. The shot destroyed the left engine but the pilot still charge ahead. **"**_DIE YOU ZAFT MOTHER.." _He was cut off as the Icarus collided with the Buster in a blue explosion. ****

**"**_Dearka!" _Yzak yelled. ****

On the Gamow, the crew was in a panic. ****

**"**Damage to starboard hull. Armor capacity at 76%. Sections 6-9 are on fire!" ****

**"**No wonder Artemis was in a strategically unimportant location. Its the perfect place for secretly building new weapons." Zelman said. ****

**"**Captain, the Buster's Phase Shift armor has just powered down!" On one of the screens, the smoke cleared and showed a gray Buster. ****

**"**Damn it! Order the pilots to return to the Gamow. We're retreating!" ****

The Gamow shot a three flares. ****

**"**The return signal?" Yzak asked as the Astray closed in on him. **"**_Yzak! Look out!" _The Buster opened fire, forcing the Astray back off. **"**_We're outnumbered and outgunned! They probably have more of those missiles waiting for us!"_****

The silver-haired coordinator grit his teeth and slammed his fist the cockpit wall. "Damn Natural scum!" The two machines flew away as Cassandra headed back to Artemis. ****

Nicol dodged the swings of the Strike as a message appeared on his screen. "What?" His alarm went off as the Archangel's Minutemen appeared and opened fire, forcing him to dodge. "Well I'm not leaving empty-handed!" He aimed his rifle at the NATO machines but two green streams of energy shot at him from below. Fortunately, the black gundam dodged at the last second. "What was that?" Everyone looked at the new mobile suit that fired the shots. It was white mobile suit with the same V-Antenna and face as the G-Weapons and Astray Green with red on different parts of the mobile suit. On its shoulders were two cannons that folded onto its back. ****

**"**Another Gundam?" Takashi asked. ****

**"**A G-Weapon hidden in Artemis?" Luke asked.

The Hyperion raised an assault rifle and aimed at the Blitz. _"Okay you ZAFT son of a bitch. You have to the count of ten to get hell out this base before I have get violent." _

"_Just how many secret weapons did NATO and the EU build?" _Nicol though to himself.

"_One, two,... ten!" _The Gundam fired and unleashed a stream of green energy. The Blitz dodged the attack and activated its Mirage Colloid. The Hyperion looked around as the invisible gundam approached from behind. It uncloaked and ignited its beam saber. The new gundam turned raised its right arm as an emitter powered up and the beam saber was blocked by a green energy shield. ****

**"**_Nice try." _The Blitz was pushed away as the new machine fired its CIWS. With no other option, Nicol

gunned the engines and activated the Mirage Colloid, rendering the Blitz invisible. **"**_And stay out!" _The pilot yelled as he turned toward the Archangel and its mobile suits. ****

**"**What is that?" Mu asked. ****

**"**_That, Lieutenant La Flaga, is the first G-Weapon of the European Union. The CAT1-X1/3 Hyperion." _Manchester said on the radio. The Astray Green flew into the port and its cameras zoomed in on the mobile suit. ****

**"**A Gundam?" ****

The Hyperion saluted to the Archangel. In the cockpit was Gaius adorned in a black & red pilot suit. "This Captain Gaius Ismail of the Artemis Defense Corp. Sorry about my absence, but better late than never right?" ****

The Blitz flew into the hatch of the Gamow as it closed up. The damaged ZAFT vessel turned around and flew away. The battle had been won with NATO and the European Union came out victorious. ****

**Next Time: The Scar of Space******

**Fly to the drifting tragedy Gundam!******

**Author's note: As you can see, this is where the events of Gundam SEED start to change more dramatically. One thing that I think many fans had a problem with was the Earth Alliance. Here are my reasons:******

**1. They were depicted as being cartoonishly evil.******

**2. They didn't get mobile suits until Panama and the Strike Daggers were a disappointment. ******

**3. The Moebius units sucked ass! ******

**So throughout this story, I'll fix these problems. Blues Cosmos and the Radical ZAFT faction will still be in the same story, I'm just trying to make the story feel more like the original **_**Mobile Suit Gundam **_**in which no side was truly good or evil. Next Chapter I'll post the mecha profile of the Icarus mobile armor, which will work its way to being the main mobile armor of the Earth Forces. ******

**P.S.: Kira will not achieve Gary-Stu status in this story and Lacus will not be a Mary-Stu. So tough break for those who like perfect characters. ******

**So until next time, please Read & Review! Also check out the other stories on profile! See Ya soon!****  
****  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ask and you shall receive! Here is the time-line for my version of the Cosmic Era:**

AD Calender

AD 2017- George Glenn is born.

AD 2025- With the eventual depletion of fossil fuels, the United Nations announce a series of plans that would not find new ways to power the world, but also to move humanity into space. This is known as **The Cosmic Project**. To mark this special occasion, the world adopts a new calender system. The Cosmic Era begins on New Year's Eve.

Cosmic Era

C.E. 4- George Glenn is nominated for a Nobel prize.

C.E. 5- George Glenn enlists in the Military.

C.E. 9-Construction of the international space station Yggdrasil begins at Lagrange point 1.

C.E. 10- The Space Colony plan begins in earnest, as a space industry arises to exploit the new Frontier. Construction on the Lunar City Copernicus begins.

George Glenn becomes an employee of NASA, based in the United States.

The United Nations establish the Federal Space Force (FSF).

C.E. 11-The Yggdrasil space station is completed.

C.E. 12- The Lunar City, Copernicus is completed.

The European Union announces plans to build a Mass Driver in Wales, in order to cut down construction time of colonies.

During this, NASA announces a Jupiter exploration program and announces the development of the exploration ship Tsiolkovsky. George Glenn is to be the ships designer, and Yggdrasil is chosen as the construction site.

C.E. 15- The Tsiolkovsky is completed.

George Glenn's Confession. As George leaves for Jupiter aboard the Tsiolkovsky, he reveals the existence of Coordinators, and releases the necessary genetic engineering techniques onto the worldwide network. The world is thrown into chaos by these events.

In the name of environmental protection the pressure group Blue Cosmos declares itself adamantly opposed to Coordinator technology.

Abelard Noel is born in Orb.

C.E. 16- An international conference is held to discuss the Coordinator Controversy. A Protocol on Genetic Modification is adopted, totally prohibiting the manipulation of human genes. Nonetheless, some wealthy individuals secretly have their children turned into Coordinators.

C.E. 17- A hospital in Chicago which has secretly been creating Coordinators is set ablaze. Blue Cosmos is rumored to be involved. Intelligence Agency detectives investigate the incident and manage to capture one of the arsonists. From his interrogation, he reveals that Blue Cosmos is willing to do what is necessary "For the Preservation of our Pure and Blue World". After his trial, he is then sentenced to life in a asylum.

Construction of the Port Panama Mass Driver begins in Central America.

C.E. 18- After six long years, the Wales Mass Driver is completed, and celebrations erupt around the world. The Cosmic Plan begins Phase 2.

C.E. 21- Construction of the Habilis Mass Driver begins on the shore of Lake Victoria.

During this time the DSSD or Deep Space Survey Division is established by the UN.

A young Abelard Noel witnesses a group of Blue Cosmos supporters beat a coordinator to death in board daylight. The young boy disappears without a trace and is never heard from again.

C.E. 22- The Tsiolkovsky reaches Jupiter and discovers the fossil known as Evidence 01. The world is thrown into chaos, and NASA orders the Tsiolkovsky to bring back the fossil.

Siegel Clyne, a Coordinator, is secretly born in the Kingdom of Scandinavia.

C.E. 23- Patrick Zala, a Coordinator is secretly born in the Atlantic Federation.

C.E. 29- George Glenn returns from Jupiter with Evidence 01. The Fossil is taken to the Zodiac research Colony at Lagrange point 5, run by the DSSD, for detailed examination.

C.E. 30- The world's religious authorities gather at the Palestine Conference, but are unable to reach any conclusions, and their influence begins to wane. Tolerance for Coordinators spreads throughout the world, and the first Coordinator boom begins.

The space industry heats up, and construction of numerous colonies begins at Lagrange point 4.

The Orb Union begins construction of the Kaguya Mass Driver and the resource satellite Heliopolis.

C.E. 31-The restrictions on George Glenn are lifted, and he begins examining Evidence 01 at Zodiac. The colony's extraterrestrial research expands into a huge research facility.

During this time, the DSSD offers Glenn a position in the Research and Development Division, which he warmly accepts.

C.E. 33- Construction of the space colony Albion begins construction at Lagrange point 2. Since member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union fiance the construction, the colony is declared as a part of both parties and establishes a friendship that would help them in the future.

C.E. 35- NATO establishes a lunar base in the Ptolemaeus Crater and unveils it's first series of Mobile Armors. The European Union begins the construction of Artemis.

C.E. 38- The Zodiac research colony is further expanded. George Glenn announces the his concept for a new type of space colony, and construction of these new colonies begins. This project is funded mainly by several regional alliances, and the new L5 colony cluster is to be managed by representatives of these sponsor nations.

Construction on Albion is completed.

C.E. 40- The first generation of Coordinators, born in secrecy, reach maturity and begin to excel in every scientific, artistic, and athletic field. The differences between Coordinators and Naturals thus becomes very clear, and critical voices emerge. Among them, Blue Cosmos the most critical.

C.E. 41- Marriages among first generation Coordinators produce a purebred second generation, who soon prove to have inherited their parents abilities.

Muruta Azrael born in North America.

C.E. 43- Patrick Zala and Siegel Clyne, participating in the construction of new colonies at Lagrange point 5, meet for the first time.

C.E. 44- The first ten space colonies (later known as Aprilius City) of the new L5 cluster are completed. These colonies, dubbed PLANTs, are intended to serve as large-scale production sites. The one thing they don't make is food, which the PLANTs are strictly prohibited from producing by the Sponsor Nations and which must be imported entirely from Earth.

C.E. 45- The estimated Coordinator population now exceeds 35 million.

Anti-Coordinator organizations begin carrying out acts of terrorism against the PLANTs. Since they have no political autonomy and are thoroughly demilitarized, the PLANTs are unable to defend themselves, and the Coordinators working in the PLANTs become increasingly dissatisfied.

C.E. 46- Al Da Flaga visits the Mendel colony at Lagrange point 4. He commissions Dr. Ulen Hibiki, the chief researcher of GARM R&D, to create a clone of himself. Rau La Flaga is born later this year.

C.E. 48- David Hickman is born in Britain.

C.E. 50- In order to obtain autonomy ad trading independence for the PLANTs, Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala form the political organization known as the Zodiac Alliance. They begin working to abolish food production restrictions and secure self-defense rights for the PLANTs, but the African Union, the more aggressive of the Sponsor Nations, suppress their efforts and the Zodiac Alliance goes underground.

C.E. 51- Ezekiel Hudson and Cassandra Slade are born in Orb and the USA.

C.E. 53- After attending a meeting concerning the PLANTs, George Glenn is badly wounded by Blue Cosmos Assassins outside the Capitol Building in Manhattan, USA. This news spreads like wildfire, as George Glenn was a major political figure on the situation between the Sponsor Nations and the PLANTs. He dies a week later at a local hospital.

After the death of George Glenn, a PLANT Supreme Council is formed, made of representatives from each of the PLANT cities. NATO begins a long war on terror against Blue Cosmos for the deaths of several citizens during the bombing, since coordinators make up 35% percent of their population.

C.E. 55- As military forces around the world deal with anti-coordinator terrorist groups, several soldiers begin to show signs of advanced reaction time and fighting abilities without any sort of genetic manipulation. With Blue Cosmos still at large, the existence of "Newtypes" is keep a secret from the general public.

C.E. 58- Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala are elected to the PLANT Supreme Council. Meanwhile their Zodiac Alliance remains active and continues to attract more sympathizers.

Uzumi Nara Attha becomes Chief Representative of the Orb Union. His first political business is attending a meeting on the Valhalla Colony in L3.

The Orb Union begins construction of the Ame-no-Mihashira orbital elevator.

C.E. 60 ~ The PLANTs become major sources of Earth's energy and manufactured goods. The Sponsor-Nations continue to reap ever greater benefits, and impose ever heavier quotas on the PLANTs. Meanwhile, other nations grow ever increasingly resentful of the Sponsor-Nations monoply profits.

C.E. 61- After surviving a terror attack from an Anti-Coordinator group from with-in the PLANTs, Patrick Zala sends his son, Athrun, to the Lunar City, Copernicus. It is here that Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala meet for the first time.

C.E. 63- The PLANTs Energy Production Department is destroyed by Blue Cosmos terrorism. The Supreme Council proposes a temporary suspension of exports, but a few of the Sponsor-Nations, much to the chagrin of the United Nations, reject the suggestion, sending the PLANTs into a short energy crisis. When the PLANTs engineers start carrying out coordinated acts of sabotage, the UN decides to overrule the decisions of the stubborn nations. This brings tension between the nations of Earth and the PLANTs.

Within the PLANTs, the calls for Autonomy grow louder. Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala become leaders of a Supreme Council faction which seeks independence from the Sponsor-Nations. Research into the military applications of mobile suits begins. The CIA catches on to this with interest and plants agents within the project.

C.E. 65- The first prototype Mobile Suit is secretly rolled out, however the planted CIA agents send data back to the homeland along with a second prototype, built in secret, for further study. The Zodiac Alliance steps up it's activities and attracts more sympathizers, changing it's name to Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty (ZAFT).

C.E. 67- The GINN, the first fully functional mobile suit is completed. A section of Maius City is secretly converted and begins producing Mobile Suits.

Meanwhile, Weston Industries, the biggest weapons manufacturer for NATO start to design its own mobile suit.

C.E. 68- Siegel Clyne is elected chairman of the Supreme Council. The PLANT Supreme Council, now dominated by ZAFT members, votes to autonomy and trade independence it's highest priority.

Blue Cosmos grows in strength, and their persecution of Coordinators remaining on Earth intensifies. The United Nations pass a bill that outlaws Blue Cosmos inside their borders, anyone caught doing any act of Anti-Coordinator sentiment, even terrorism, is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Chairman Clyne makes secret arrangements with imports of food and exports of manufactured goods with the UN.

In response to Blue Cosmos, ZAFT is reorganized under Patrick Zala's leadership, and combined with the PLANTs domestic security operations to become a military organization armed with Mobile Suits.

A bio-hazard breaks out inside the Mendel Colony at Lagrange Point 4. Multiple casualties ensue and the colony is abandoned, then sterilized with an massive bombardment of x-rays. The involvement of Blue Cosmos is rumored.

Patrick Zala calls Athrun back from Copernicus. Due to the deteriorating situation, the Yamato family also moves, relocating to the resource satellite Heliopolis.

C.E. 69- Chairman Clyne orders PLANTs 7 through 10 of Junius City to be remodeled for agriculture production. Blue Cosmos, determined to prevent the PLANTs from producing their own food begin intimidation maneuvers. At this point, ZAFT and it's mobile suit forces make their combat debut, overwhelming the attacking extremists.

During a UN meeting in Brussels, Blue Cosmos attacks due to the fact that 48% of the member state population is made up of Coordinators. In a surprise move, NATO reveals its mass-production mobile suit, the NMS-063 Minuteman and the Rourke-class battleship, the spiritual descendant to the famous Iowa-class warships. The attackers are destroyed and captured, dealing a large blow to Blue Cosmos. However, this leads many nations to distrust NATO since the development of the Minutemen was kept under wraps.

Captain Lewis Halberton of the Canadian Space Force's 4th Fleet (which will later be known as the 8th Fleet of NATO) recognizes the mobile suit's effectiveness in space combat, due to the Minuteman and ZAFT's Mobile Suit Forces, and proposes the development of the "G-Series".

Chairman Clyne issues demands for complete autonomy and trade equality to the Sponsor Nations. The PLANTs promise to halt resource exports to Earth should no response arrive by January 1, of the following year.

9.1- Kira Yamato enters the Morgenroete Technical College on Heliopolis.

C.E. 70- 1.1- As they meet with representatives of the Sponsor-Nations, PLANT Supreme Council members are targeted by a terror attack, and one council member is slain. Blue Cosmos claims responsibility and the PLANTs halt all resource exports. The sponsor nations, except members of NATO and the EU, which have been dependent on the PLANTs for such production, are rendered destitute.

2.5- The Tragedy of Copernicus- At the urging of the Secretary General of the United Nations, negotiations take place at the Lunar City Copernicus. A terrorist bombing claims the lives of the Secretary General, the Sponsor Nation representatives, and the rest of the United Nations leadership. The PLANTs representative, Chairman Clyne, is delayed due to a shuttle malfunction, and escapes the bombing.

2.11- While still reeling from the Copernicus attacks, Blue Cosmos uses this opportunity to hi-jack a fleet of NATO ships and five nuclear missiles. When they do learn of this, NATO mobilizes it military force in fear of attack from their long-time enemy. However, what they didn't know is that Murata Azareal has ordered the bombing of Junius Seven.

2.14- The Bloody Valentine- ZAFT repels the terrorist attack and manage to destroy all but one nuke, as the last missile destroys the Junius 7 PLANT Colony, killing 243,721 people. Lenore Zala, Patrick Zala's wife, is among the casualties.

2.18- At a national memorial for the Bloody Valentine victims Chairman Clyne swears to resist the NATO since it was their ships that attack them despite the fact that Blue Cosmos were the attackers, to the very end and offers to give trading preference to any nation who doesn't ally themselves with NATO. The Pacific Islands Forum and the Union of South American States accept Clyne's offer.

2.21- Athrun Zala and Yzak Joule join ZAFT.

Cassandra Slade joins NATO.

2.28- The space station Yggdrasil is reported to be destroyed by terrorist attacks. In reality, NATO and the EU have moved the station into the debris field and hold a secret meeting. They plan to finish the final stages of the UN's Cosmic Plan and set two new goals. The utter disbandment of Blue Cosmos and to reorganize the international leadership of Earth.

3.15- In response to the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, the PLANT Supreme council decide on a Equatorial Campaign, dubbed Operation Uroboros.

4.1- The April Fools Crisis- ZAFT launches Operation Uroboros by scattering N-Jammers across Earth's surface, plunging the Nations of the Earth into a severe energy crisis.

4.3- The leaders of NATO and EU offer the PLANTs a non-negotiable ultimatum. They must hand over the members of the supreme council that authorized Operation Uroboros and let them face trial for crimes against humanity. When they refuse, the two alliances declare war on the ZAFT forces while claiming that they will not attack the PLANTs themselves.

4.5- Since ZAFT has started to deploy different mobile suits for various terrains, Weston Industries constructs the Minuteman Guepard and the Minuteman Raptor for land and aerial combat respectively. They also build an aquatic mobile suit known as the UMS-060 Swordfish.

4.12- The Battle of Carpentaria- ZAFT drops the disassembled components of a military base from orbit to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Within 48 hours, the foundations of the Carpentaria Base have been laid. NATO's Pacific Fleet engages the ZAFT Forces, but is defeated.

4.17- Tachyon Labs, a corporation dedicated to the research of Newtypes and owned by the EU, start up a plan to build weapons specifically for Newtypes.

5.3- ZAFT begins a offensive whose ultimate target is the Ptolemaeus Lunar Base. A ZAFT base is established in the Lorentz Crater, and the moon is divided along what becomes known as the Grimaldi Front.

5.20- The Carpentaria Base is completed, and ZAFT deploys the aerial mobile suit DINN

5.22- ZAFT's campaign to capture terrestrial bases begins in earnest. Using the Carpentaria Base as a staging area, ZAFT launches an invasion of the Mediterranean Region.

5.25- The First Casablanca Sea Battle- The EU's Mediterranean Fleet engages ZAFT's submarine carrier fleet in a naval battle near Casablanca. The ZAFT forces are caught off guard by the Minuteman Raptors and Swordfish units and are forced to retreat. Meanwhile, construction on the ZAFT Gibraltar Base begins.

5.30- The Battle of Suez- ZAFT ground forces defeat a massive NATO tank corps at El Alamein, and Andrew Waldtfeld earns the nickname "Desert Tiger" for his exploits in this battle. The ZAFT forces begin heading south, expanding their territory further into Africa.

6.2- The final battle of the Grimaldi Front takes place at a NATO resource base in the Endymion Crater. The Alliance loses it's 3rd Fleet. However, Mu La Flaga's impressive performance in the Moebius Zero shows that mobile armors are still a force to be reckoned with and begin mass-production of the Zero.

6.14- At Lagrange Point 4, fighting begins around the resource satellite Nova, which is controlled by the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD). Skirmishes continue for almost a month, with neither side carrying out a decisive strike, and many of the space colonies of the L4 cluster are damaged during the fighting.

7.14- The ACD abandon Nova, and the fighting comes to an end. Both sides cease major military operations, and although small skirmishes continue on Earth, as well as in space, the overall war comes to a stalemate. However, the ACD meets with NATO and begin talks about cooperation.

The Mobile Suit project proposed by Commodore Halberton, commander of NATO's 8th Fleet is reexamined, as a means of breaking this deadlock. With the assistance of Morgenroete on orders from the Sahaku Noble Family of Orb, development of the G-Series, as well as the mobile suit carrier, Archangel, begin in earnest at Heliopolis, unaware that they're being shadowed by Morgenroete itself, as it steals G-Series data, as well as the designs of the Archangel for it's own projects.

8.13- Weston Industries begins construction of the new tactical Jericho split-missiles, the high performance Icarus mobile armors, the Dallas-class assault ship and the Hyperion. They use Artemis as a production plant due to its tactical uselessness.

9.20- Athrun Zala graduates from ZAFT's military academy. He is assigned to the Le Creuset Team along with Yzak Joule, Dearka Elsman, and Nicol Almalfi.

10.22- Secret discussions are arranged between Chairman Clyne, and NATO Secretary General Hickman, using the Reverend Malchio as a intermediary. Their goal is to break the stalemate, alleviate famine conditions, and find middle ground for an end to the war. However, these negotiations fail to bear fruit, as Hickman stands by his leader's decision of putting the guilty Supreme Council members on trial.

C.E. 71- 1.15- Activity in the Pacific Theater increases. ZAFT attacks the ACD's Kaohsiung spaceport in Taiwan. This act of aggression is meet with international criticism. The UNASUR begins to question ZAFT's methods and motives.

1.17- The ACD officially announces that they will join NATO and the EU in their war against ZAFT.

1.20- 5 GAT-X Series and the Archangel are secretly rolled out in Heliopolis.

1.23- ZAFT forces are pushed back from Kaohsiung thanks to the intervention of the ACD's new allies. Trade between the three alliances is set to begin in two months.

1.24- The Le Creuset Team investigates reports of a new NATO military satellite under construction at Lagrange point 3. However, the information proves faulty as there is nothing but floating debris, and no fighting ensues. On their way back to the PLANT homeland, they obtain intelligence on the Earth Alliance's mobile suits from a spy who has infiltrated Heliopolis. They change course to the neutral station.

1.25- Now...

_Phase 7: The Scar of Space_

_January 30__th_

_The PLANT Homeland..._

The Vesalius approached the homeland at cruising speed.

"Picked-up guide beacon. We've been instructed to enter dock number 4. Match entry vector. Beacon detection confirmed. Course Correction 0.3. Mark 16.2 Delta. Turn about 180 degrees. Begin acceleration."

The blue ship turned around and backed into the port.

"Will you have Athrun Zala accompany you at the inquiry?" Adas asked.

"Yes. He was present during the incident. He also had the adjective for calm analysis.": Rau stated.

"I've heard that Orb is outraged and has been mounting a planet wide protest."

"Adas, the problem should be viewed from a more important prospective. Ours."

_Kaohsiung Spaceport, last week...__  
_

Five ZAFT dropships launches their Atmospheric drop pods toward the Earth's surface. The pods started to burn red as they entered the atmosphere.

"_First layer traversed. 28 seconds until termination of cooling stage. Commence aerodynamic control." _

"Alpha 1 here. Confirming weapons are loaded and ready to fire." One of the pilots reported.

"_Bravo 2."_

"_Charlie 3."_

"_Delta 4."_

"Second layer traversed. We're gonna deal a severe blow to those clinging to the planet's surface. Past layer of turbulence. Deceleration to Mach 0.9. Cooling stage ceased. Altitude good. May the heavens protect us. Activating programed descent coordinates. Here we go!"

"_For ZAFT!" _The pilots yelled.

The drop pods broke apart and revealed the GINNs that were inside them. The mono-eyed mobile suits descended onto the battlefield. The Kaohsiung defense forces activated their anti-air defenses and launched several missiles. The barrage managed to destroy a few GINNs, but then the machines began to return fire with their assault rifles. For everyone GINN that fell, four artillery truck and bunkers fell. The GINNs were joined by the BuCUEs and ZuOOTs. The mobile suits attacked with assault rifles, missiles and cannons. It seemed for certain that ZAFT would win this battle.

In the Kaohsiung command center, the officers were panicking while the commander wore a calm expression.

"(Artillery fire has hit point 6!)"*

"(The advanced anti-air convoy has been destroyed!)"

"(Mobile suits closing in!)"

"(This is a goddamn disaster! We have to evacuate!)" One of the officers yelled.

"(Absolutely not!)" The commander yelled.

"(But, commander!)"

The commander looked at his watch. "(Now.)"

Outside, a GINN fired on a tank and destroyed it. _"This is too easy." _In the forest, a mobile suit aimed its 500mm cannon at the GINN. With one shot, the mobile suit was destroyed.

"_All teams, drop your cover!" _Several mobile suits threw away their cloaks, revealing Minutemen and Minutemen Weapons. The three-eyed mobile suits opened fire on the ZAFT machines.

"_Wait, are those Minutemen?" _

Deep in the water, three submarines launched six mobile suits each. These mobiles suits were deep blue and had the same head as the Minuteman with a body similar to the GOOhN. This was NATO's aquatic mobile suit, the Swordfish. They latched their arms to the bottom of three ZAFT naval ships and attached circular devices to the ships. As soon as they got far enough, the pilots pressed a button and blew up the ships in bursts of fire.

A BuCUE ran towards the Kaohsiung base as it dodged the shots from the enemy machines. A group of missiles flew over the horizon and destroyed the beast-like mobile suit. Three DINNs flew overheard and saw a truly intimidating sight.

A group of transport planes were escorted by twelve Minuteman Raptors. They had the same appearance as the regular Minutemen, but they were equipped with a flight unit and extra tank to travel long distances. The hatches of the transport planes opened and dropped several Minuteman Guepards which were colored brown with bits of yellow. Attached to their legs were large high-output verniers.

When the Guepards hit the ground, they hovered toward the ZAFT mobile suits with incredible speed. The Guepards attacked from the ground with their bazookas while the Raptors attacked from the sky with their split-missiles and machine guns.

Now the battle had truly began.

_The Debris belt__, Present Day..._

The Archangel and the Balder were traveling to meet up with the rest of the 8th fleet. Flying along with them was a new _Dallas-class _ship. This was essentially a one-legged version of the Archangel without the Lohengrin cannon but equipped with stronger Anti-Beam depth charges. Since they weren't any available captains with ship experience, Chester was made captain of the new ship. Gaius and Sosuke were made part of the crew.

And since the lightwave barrier left Artemis unprotected from enemy attacks, NATO couldn't safely send a ship to pick-up the refugees.

On the plus side, they were able to resupply the Archangel and the Balder. The Archangel was given a set of Jericho missiles so that they could handle any attack, the Balder has taken on four of the new Icarus mobile armors and the Dallas had the Hyperion waiting in the hangar.

But the biggest news came from the planet. Since the N-Jammers made communications from Earth to Space take a while they had only just found out about the newest developments yesterday.

The ACD, or Asian Cooperation Dialogue, had initially been one of the nations that decided to remain neutral in the conflict. However, they started to question their neutrality when ZAFT attacked their resource station Nova. But the final straw was drawn when they attacked the Kaohsiung spaceport.

During the final battle, NATO and the EU deployed their military forces in a surprise attack, forcing the invaders to retreat. After the fight, the ACD announced that it would open trading routes with their new allies and help them in the war. With the ACD's massive population along NATO and the EU technology, the tide of war would change without a doubt.

Cassandra sat in the cockpit of the Astray Green as she helped with maintenance. Zeke sat at a terminal as Haro downloaded the combat data from the Gundam. She looked at the weapon screen which showed an emitter-like device integrated into the Astray's right arm."So what's this new weapon suppose to be?"

"It's a high-powered laser meant for pin-point accuracy." Zeke said.

"How high is it?"

"I estimate that it can pierce through the hull of a Laurasia-class."

"You're kidding right?"

"I never kid about my inventions."

"Hey guys." The two friends and one robot looked down and saw Luke floating toward them. "Are you finished with the repairs?"

"Almost. I just gotta readjust the Minuteman's OS so it can use the sub-machine gun." Zeke said.

"Great. But there's something I wanted to talk to you guys about." Luke looked around. "Have you guys noticed Kira has been acting distant?"

"Its not that odd. I've been talking with Kira's friends and they said that out of all of them, Kira was one of the biggest pacifists." Zeke looked at the Strike. "He probably hates his own mobile suit."

"Can't really say that I understand. I mean war is terrifying but I feel as though I was meant for it." Luke said. "I've felt more alive in the cockpit of a mobile suit then I ever did back at home. Sounds stupid doesn't it."

"Not at all." Cassandra replied. "Some people are born to fight while others aren't. That's what makes humans so unique."

"Man that's pretty deep." Zeke said as he floated toward the Ginns.

"Just cause I'm a soldier doesn't mean I'm one-dimensional." The curly-haired pilot said.

During the past few days, the crews had gotten to know each other better.

Takashi was from Japan and went to work at a business firm in Heliopolis after graduating from High school. While he did make good money, he wanted be a mobile suit pilot more than anything but couldn't join ZAFT because he wasn't a coordinator or NATO because he wasn't a citizen. Now that the ACD would have access to the Minuteman series, the tall man had officially enlisted as a pilot.

Mikeva was a Cuban/African US citizen who went to Heliopolis on vacation. She was a college student who was working on getting her masters in engineering. She her mother was a senator for the United States so she knew a lot about the political background of the war.

Luke and Gale were best friends who joined the NATO Space Forces to defend their home from ZAFT and Blue Cosmos. While Luke was lay back and forgiving, Gale was violent and temperamental. Their skills in the MS simulators got Mitsukai's attention, so she had them transferred for protection during the trip to Heliopolis.

Speaking of friends, Takashi existed on of the MS simulators with a groan while Gaius stepped out of the other one.

"Wow Takashi. Five losses in row." Mikeva said with a smirk.

"Shut up."

"Aw, don't sweat it." Gaius said putting his hand on the Asian pilot's shoulder. "The point these simulations is to prepare you for real combat.

"I guess that's true." Takashi said, his spirits slightly raised.

"Good. Kira Yamato, you're next!" The Hyperion pilot pointed to the young coordinator.

"Um, I actually have a headache so maybe.." He said trying to walk away.

"Oh no you don't!" Gaius grabbed Kira's collar and dragged him to the simulators while the other pilot chuckled.

_The PLANT Homeland, Aprilius One..._

"The committee of the supreme council shall commence its special inquiry on the collapse of Heliopolis, a territory of the Orb Union." Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne said from the head of the table with the other council members as Rau and Athrun sat on a sofa across from them. "First, Rau Le Creuset. You shall start by delivering your report."

The masked white coat stood up in attention. "Yes sir."

_The Debris belt..._

The three ships flew by the mass collection of spaceships, colonies and other junk that was trapped in Earth's gravity since humanity started to live in space. On the bridge, Sai sat at his seat overlooking communications when he heard something.

"Captain, I'm picking up a signal coming from the debris belt." Sai reported.

"What is it?" Murrue asked.

"I'm not sure, but its displaying on a public channel."

"So we can rule out ZAFT." Mu said. "They wouldn't be so crazy as to wait in the debris field just to get to us. And that Laurasia-class is probably still licking its wounds after the beating Artemis gave it."

"We should continue our present course." Arnold said.

_"And ignore the signal? Someone could be hurt or in need of our aid."_ Mitsukai said.

"This is a military vessel. We can't waste our on possibility. It could just be an old signal that's started up due to a collision." Natarle said.

_"Don't be so cold Badgeruel. The most likely case is that it's a civilian shuttle that caught up in the debris field. And it is the military's job is to protect civilians." _Chester retorted.

Murrue thought about this before picking up her phone. "All pilots, please report to the bridge."

"Well it looks like we're making a side-trip." Mu said as the Archangel headed toward the debris belt.

_Aprilius One..._

"I trust you can appreciate from the events you just witnessed that our actions were not intended as an assault on Heliopolis, but the result of collateral damage." Rau told the council. "And that NATO instigated the collapse. Thank you for your kind attention. That concludes my report." The masked man saluted and walked back to the sofa.

"So Orb was in league with NATO after all! They're the ones who deliberately violated the treaty!"

"However, representative Amalfi..."

"Those who chose to make Earth their home cannot be trusted."

"But tell me, Commander Le Creuset." Athrun's father, Patrick Zala said. "The prototype mobile suits. Are they really worth all of the sacrifices that were made by our ZAFT forces in order to secure them?"

"To illustrate to you their phenomenal capabilities, I have here one of our pilots. He operated a machine and fought one of the last ones that's still with the enemy. I'd like permission to have Athrun Zala brief you on the details."

"I will allow Athrun Zala to present his report." Siegel said. Athrun walked up to where Rau was standing earlier as video footage of the Aegis in the hangar and in battle

"First, I would like to present this machine known as the GAT-X303 Aegis. One major characteristic is it's ability to transform. Due to it's frame structure, which is fundamentally different from five of the other machines, it can transform into a mobile armor from. Upon transformation, it's equipped with a powerful 580mm dual-phase energy cannon called Scylla. Along with the other machines, it comes with an armor system called Phase Shift Armor, which has yet to be tested in actual battle. At present, we are reprogramming the OS to bring out it's maximum potential. And based on the specs of this machine, it is believed that these mobile suits are superior, both in technology and power, to ZAFT's main weapon, the GINN and the Minuteman of NATO."

The screen changed to footage of the Duel fighting the Astray Green.

"Next is the GAT-X102 Duel. This machine was developed with close-range combat in mind and has a wide range of uses. It's believed to the basis of the development of the other machines. Like the others, it has "Igelstellung" CIWS mounted in its head. This machine also has a beam saber and an anti-beam shield."

The screen changed to footage of Buster engaged in a firefight with five Icarus units.

"The GAT-X103 Buster. This machine was designed with long-range artillery attacks in mind. It is believed that this machine was built to provide fire support from the rear and sniper attacks. It is not equipped with a shield, however it has a 35mm gun launcher that uses attachments to become a hyper-impulse long-range sniper rifle or an anti-armor shotgun."

The next video was the Blitz battling the Strike.

"GAT-X207 Blitz. This one has a special feature called Mirage Colloid. By releasing gas particles over the armor's surface, this machine can become virtually invisible to enemy eyes. This makes it effective for search and destroy missions. However, when this system is activated, it is unable to use it's Phase Shift Armor System. It's believed that this machine was developed for blitzkrieg warfare, hence its name. It is also equipped with it's own weapons, Trikeros and Gleipnir."

Then the screen showed footage of the Strike.

"And finally, the GAT-X105 Strike. From what we know, it is a machine capable of various types of combat. Its design allows this model to switch between a number of different weapon packs, named Launcher, Sword and Aile. From what we can tell, the Launcher has a 320mm hyper impulse cannon. Our assumption is that it also has a 120mm anti-ship Vulcan cannon as well as a 350mm gun launcher. The Sword module equips it with a 15-meter long anti-ship beam blade and a beam boomerang. In addition, the machine carries two combat knives in it's hip section. It is assumed that this machine has high combat potential. Wish I could say that is all, but there's one more."

The next video was the Astray Green in combat.

"The name and model number this machine is unknown. Even the data extraction of the other G-Weapons has no data of it. But what we've seen, it has the same "Igelstellung" weapons as the other

machines along with two beam sabers and beam rifle weapon with two beam sabers attached. And unlike the other machines, it has no Phase Shift Armor."

The final videos showed the Icarus mobile armors and the Hyperion.

"These machines were deployed at Artemis. The mobile armors have a much higher combat capability then the Moebius Zero and are estimated to handle the GINN in combat. The G-Weapon has CIWS and a can deploy a mobile suit-sized lightwave barrier that can block beam weaponry. That is all." Athrun concluded as the video changed back to the ZAFT logo. He saluted and walked back to the sofa.

"They've manufactured these abominations? Those disgusting Naturals!"

"But they're only in the trial stage, correct? We can hardly consider seven mobile suits and a few new mobile armors a threat."

"But if they've come this far then their next step would be to mass produce. Are you suggesting we just sit back and wait until that happens?"

"This is a perfect indication of what the naturals are planning for the future. They crave war and desire to wreak havoc and destruction."

As the committee members talked amongst themselves, a sinister smirk appeared on Rau's face while Athrun looked worried.

_Laurasia-class ship "Misfit" …_

The ship known as the Misfit drifted through the debris belt as a red coat pilot entered the MS hangar. He had black hair with bangs and blue eyes. (Voice: Kyle Hebert) He entered a red & black CGUE with the symbol of a golden chinese dragon on its left shoulder. Attached to its right arm was a weapon consisted of two blades with a barrel nestled in the middle. He closed the hatch and put on his helmet.

"_Asura 1, you're clear for launch." _

"Roger that." The red CGUE walked toward the open hatch. "Alex Gables, launching!" The red GINN flew into the debris belt and meet up with a group of mobile suits made up of two recon types and three regular types. "Come on boys! We've got a princess to save!"

A few kilometers away, the Gundams, Zero, Minutemen and Mistral worker pods floated ahead of the ships as they approached a large piece of debris. When they got closer, everyone was shocked by what they saw.

_Aprilius One..._

"There is no one who prefers to fight." Patrick Zala stated. "Who among us earnestly wishes to face the battlefield? We prefer to live peacefully, gracefully and happily. That has always been and always will be our only desire. But who came upon us and so ruthlessly shattered that desire? Who took our freedom away for their own selfish ambitions? Who pushes us aside to better themselves? Who exploits the coordinators? Who will never let us forget the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, the nightmarish destruction of Junius Seven! 243,721 people. It has been one year since that loathsome incident that stole from us so many of our fellow citizens, yet we've pondered endlessly to find a quick solution to end this war. Our demands have been minor, however the naturals have put our efforts to waste time and time again. We fight because it is the only way we can protect ourselves! If we must fight so that we may protect, then we have to choice but to fight!"

_One Year Ago..._

_Cassandra looked up at the stars as she lay on the grass. Suddenly the sky lit up in a bright flash as the young woman looked up with worry in her eyes._

_Present Day..._

The pilot of the Astray Green grit her teeth at the gruesome sight.

"It drifted all the way here?" Tolle asked.

"The remains of Junius Seven." Kira said.

"Oh my god." Mikeva said.

"It's awful. Just awful." Takashi said.

On the Archangel, Zeke held his hands together and started to pray.

"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen."

When he was finished, he opened his eyes and looked at his robotic companion. "You know Haro, I think I might be the only one on this ship who still believes in God."

"_Believe!"_

"Take a good ladies and gentlemen." Chester said with a solemn expression. "This were the world turned bitter."

_Aprilius One..._

The council members filed out of the room. Siegel turned and saw a certain green-eyed coordinator saluting. "Ah, Athrun."

"Chairman Clyne."

"You know, there's no need for you to stand on ceremony with me." The scandinavian coordinator said.

"W..Well, I thought it might be..."

"Just when you finally returned, it's now my daughter Lacus who has to be away on business. When will you two take time from your busy schedules to see each other?"

"Well I am sorry about that sir."

"Apologizing to me won't do you any good." The two of them walked to the giant stone carving known as Evidence 01. "But you should be aware, its about to get hectic again. I can understand your father's point of view. However..."

"Athrun Zala." The two of them turned and saw Rau walking toward them. "We're going after that new warship and mobile suits. The Lacony and Asura Teams have now been assigned under my command. We will be moving out in 72 hours."

"Yes sir."

"If would excuse us, Chairman Clyne." The white coat saluted and walked away. Athrun turned and saluted before following his commanding officer. Patrick walked up to Siegel.

"We have so little time. What useless purpose would it serve to expand the front lines of battle?" Siegel asked his old friend.

"The reason is precisely because we cannot forgive them, those who get in our way." The radical coordinator answered.

Later, Athrun visited the graveyard and set a bouquet of flowers on a tombstone with the name "Lenore Zala."

At the same time, the crew of the Archangel held an impromptu ceremony to honor the lives lost on Junius Seven. Cassandra gave a salute as her gundam did the same. The other mobile suits soon followed. After the ceremony, they continued to search the debris belt for the signal. Kira turned and saw a damaged civilian ship. His alarms blared as a GINN Recon Type appeared in his line of vision.

The Aile Strike hid behind a piece of debris as it watched the GINN search the ship. "What's it doing all the way out here?" He pressed a button, activating the targeting scope and aiming his beam rifle at the ZAFT mobile suit. The computers locked onto it but Kira didn't fire. "Go now. Go away. Just leave." The GINN started to fly away as the young coordinator let out a sigh of relief. However, the GINN turned and Kira saw that it had stopped one of the Mistral pods. As it flew toward the pod, Kira grit his teeth. "You idiot! Why did you have to notice it?" He aimed but still hesitated to pull the trigger. The GINN aimed its sniper rifle at the pod and Kira fired. The beam destroyed its arm as the Strike fired two more times, destroying it.

"_Thanks Kira." _Kuzzey said.

"_Kid! What happ..." _Kira turned off the radio as his hands shook.

A few kilometers away, the red CGUE's radar showed Asura 4 shutting down. Alex raised an eyebrow as he addressed his team. "Attention! Asura 4's signal has been lost. Looks like we've got hostiles. Move out!" The five mobile suits flew toward the last known signal of their fallen teammate.

The Moebius Zero was floating toward Kira's location as his radar picked up four enemy heat signatures. He zoomed in and saw the Asura team. "Oh shit! Guys, we've got company! Four GINNs and one CGUE headed this way!"

Kira turned and aimed his rifle at the red machine and fired but it flew out of the way and charged at the white & blue Gundam.

"That must be the new NATO weapon I've heard about. Well let's see if really it's all that." Marcus blasted toward the Strike and swung his gunblade, only the Strike to block it with its shield. The red machine backed away and fired his linear rifle and shield vulcan but the bullets did nothing. "Well I'll be damned. That thing really is bullet-proof!"

The GINN recon aimed its sniper rifle at Takashi's Minuteman and fired but the he dodged the shots. He fired his machine gun and destroyed the sniper rifle. He charged at the GINN and swung his heat saber but it dodged and kicked him back.

Mikeva engaged in another GINN dogfight. She fired her missiles but the enemy machine flew behind a large piece of debris and the missile blew it up. The GINN flew toward her as Mikeva pulled out her machine gun and fired, destroying its legs.

The Astray Green hid behind a meteor as she looked around. Her alarm blared as she fire upward and blasted the head off of a GINN. Her activated her twin beam sabers and charged stabbing the enemy mobile suit in the cockpit and pulled away as it exploded into dust.

One of the other GINNs spotted the ships and aimed its recoil-less cannon. The projectile was destroyed by a beam sub-machine as the Hyperion and Zero were closing in on it. The pilot grit his teeth and high-tailed it out of there.

"_Smart move." _Gaius commented.

Alex dodged as the Strike swung its beam saber. "That's an impressive mobile suit. However,..." He spin-kicked the Strike's and grabbed the beam saber, making a quick adjustment to the OS. "You're just too green." He swung and slashed off the right forearm of the Gundam.

"No way!" Kira yelled. Alex charged but a machine gun barrage stopped him as two Minutemen flew towards them. Alex saw that his fellow units were damaged and that one of them was destroyed.

"No choice. Guess I've got to pull out the big guns." The CGUE's eye glowed as the blades on its shoulders detached, revealing that they were attached by wires. "LET'S PARTY!" The blades moved in several directions on unleashed a torrent of bullets at its enemies. The Minutemen were forced to block the shots with their shields.

"What the hell?" Gale yelled.

"Are those gunbarrels?" Luke asked.

"_All units, return to the Misfit!"_ The red GINN flew away toward from the battlefield as the other machines followed their leader.

"They're retreating?" Sai asked.

_"__Probably trying to regroup and repair their mobile suits. I suggest we leave the area at once."_ Natarle said.

"_I agree." _Chester said. _"Especially since we just tangled with the Dragon of Nova." _

"The Dragon of Nova?" Cassandra whispered as she headed back to the Archangel.

Kira looked at the retreating enemies as an emergency signal matching the one Sai detected blared. He looked around and zoomed in on a lone lifepod. "A lifepod? That must be where the signal was coming from."

_Forty minutes later..._

The mobile suits and pods had returned to the Archangel as Murdoch worked to bypass the lock on the lifepod with everyone gathered around.

"You really have a pension for bringing in things that have been left behind." Natarle said to Kira.

"Okay! I'm opening it." Murdoch said. The soldiers aimed their guns in caution as the pod opened. Out of the pod came something familiar.

"_Haro! Haro!" _A pink robot remarkably similar to Zeke's Haro flew out of the pod. Its green brother flew toward it.

"_Who are you? Who are you?" _Zeke's Haro said.

"_I'm Haro! I'm Haro!" _The pink machine said as they started floating together flapping their ears and saying their names. Zeke smiled while Takashi palmed his forehead.

"That's gonna get annoying real quick." The tall pilot said. Mikeva giggled while everyone else held in a laugh.

"Thank you. I appreciate your assistance." A soft voice said. Everyone turned and saw a beautiful pink-haired girl with silver eyes. She wore a silver dress with a purple skirt. However, one person recognized her.

"_Lacus?" _Mikeva thought to herself.

**Next time: Songstress of the Enemy Forces******

**What is it beyond that song in the air Gundam?**

**A lot of new info in this chapter. The time-line was really fun to make.**

And now, schematics! Here are the specs for the Icarus along with the Dallas-class and the CGUE Asura:

Model number: TS-MA3  
Codename: Icarus  
Unit type: Mass-Produced Mobile Armor  
Manufacturer: Weston Industries  
Operator: Earth Alliance  
First deployment: C.E. 71  
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit  
Dimensions: unknown  
Weight: unknown  
Armor materials: unknown  
Powerplant: ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown  
Propulsion: Classified for now  
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown  
Fixed armaments: linear gatling gun (mounted below main body), 8x missiles (4x mounted on the sides), CIWS (mounted in nose), rest is classified for now  
Optional Fixed armaments: Classified for now  
Known Pilot(s): Many  
Colors: Cobalt with white lines and white sensor head with yellow vizor  
Author's Note: Based on the NRMA-006 Gadeel from _After War Gundam X _(which is greatly underrated). I can't reveal all of the details because that would be a major spoiler. To find out, you'll have to keep reading. 

**Dallas-class**

**Unit Type: Mobile Assault Ship**

**Ships of the Line: Dallas**

**Manufacturer: Weston Industries**

**Operator(s): NATO, EU, ACD**

**First Deployment: C.E. 71**

**Dimensions: Unknown**

**Weight: Unknown**

**Propulsion: Unknown**

**Equipment and Design Features: Sensors, range unknown**

**Armaments: 16x "Igelstellung" 75mm automatic multi-barrel CIWS, 2x "Valiant Mk.8" 110cm linear cannon, 2x "Gottfried Mk.71" 225cm high-energy beam cannons, 2x 4-tube missile launcher/anti-beam dispersal shells **

**Mobile Suits: 4**

**Launch catapults: 1**

**Technical and Historical Notes:**

**Designed to be a mass-produced version of the Archangel, the Dallas-class provides a massive improvement over the aging Drake-class ships. Althrough it lacks the Lohengrin positron cannon, it maintains the rest of the Archangel's weaponry. Interestinly enough, the anti-beam charges on the Dallas-class are far stronger than the Archangel's, given it stronger defense against beam weapory. The first model is built in Artemis and given the job of esorting the Archangel and the Balder to meet up with the 8th fleet**

**Known Captain: Manchester Black**

**Colors: Light-blue with parts of yellow**

**Author's Notes: Based off of the _Diva-class Mass Production Type_ from _Gundam AGE. _**

**Model number: ZGMF-515A CGUE Asura  
Codename: CGUE Asura  
Unit type: Custom Commander-type Mobile suit  
Manufacturer: ZAFT  
Operator: ZAFT  
First deployment: C.E. 70  
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit  
Dimensions: unknown  
Weight: unknown  
Armor materials: unknown  
Powerplant: ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown  
Propulsion: unknown  
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown, "Fast-Adapt" OS  
Fixed armaments: 200 x 65mm Linear Gun/Blade, mounted on right arm, 4x Wired Machinegun pods (each mounts 2x 75mm machine guns)  
Optional Fixed armaments: M7070 shield-plus-28mm vulcan system, mounted on left arm, Beam Saber (stolen from the Strike Gundam)  
Known Pilot(s): Alex Gables  
Colors: Mostly red with parts of black with Alex's personal embelm on the left shoulder.  
Author's Note: The gunblade is based off the main weapon of the _MSJ-06II-SP __Tieren Toazi. _Except to see more of this bad boy in the follwing chapters. **

**Please remember to read and review! See ya next time! **


	8. Chapter 8

_Phase____8: Songstress of the Enemy Forces_

Lacus floated above as everyone looked at her. "Oh my. How rude." She tried to adjust move to the floor but was having a bit of trouble before Mikeva helped her down. "Thank you."

"You're welcome Lacus." Mikeva said with a smile. Lacus was confused before she looked closely and smiled.

"Mikeva!" The two women embraced in hug. "It's so great to see you."

"You too." The older woman said. "What are you doing out here?"

"Well, you see..." The pink-haired girl began before she saw NATO's symbol on Mikeva's shoulder. She looked around and saw that most of the people around her were wearing the same kind of uniform. "My. It's pretty clear this isn't a ZAFT ship, is it?" Everyone (except Mikeva) was surprised to hear her say this and Natarle palmed her face.

"Pardon me?" Murrue asked.

"Um... Welcome." Kira said.

_"Welcome! Welcome!" _The Haros said.

_PLANT Homeland, Athrun's quarters..._

Athrun had just gotten out of the shower and put on a bathrobe as the intercom on his wall started to ring. He pressed it and saw a ZAFT communications officer. "Athrun Zala here."

_"Recognition number 285002 Athrun Zala of the Le Creuset team. Message from forces HQ."_

"Roger."

_"The Vesalius departs 35 hours earlier. Now rescheduled for tomorrow at 1800 hours. Personnel boarding must arrive one hour before departure. Repeat and acknowledge receipt of message." _

"The Vesalius departs 35 hours earlier. Now rescheduled for tomorrow at 1800 hours. Personnel boarding must arrive one hour before departure. Athrun Zala, message acknowledged." The green-eyed coordinator said as he shut off the com-link. He keep drying his hair as he turned on his TV.

_"...attacked the vessel. On board is the memorial's acting representative, the chairman's daughter, Lacus Clyne." _A news anchorman said. _"Their safety has yet to be confirmed." _

Athrun stopped in his tracks and watched the report with his full focus.

_"Repeating our top story. In preparation of the one year memorial services, the Silverwind was excepting Junius Seven. Since last however, the vessel has been missing." _

"Not Lacus." Athrun said, worry filling his entire being.

_The Archangel..._

Murrue, Natarle and Mu brought Lacus into a lone room so they could talk in private.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you for retrieving the life pod." The pink-haired girl said. "My name is Lacus Clyne."

_"Haro. Lacus. Haro." _The pink ball in her lap said.

"And this is my friend Haro. But I saw that you have one of your own, so already know about them."

Murrue signed as Mu palmed his face. "Boy oh boy." Meanwhile, Sai, Tolle, Kuzzey and Takashi were pressing the ears against the door as Kira, Cassandra, Zeke, Mikeva and Haro looked on.

"So what are they saying?"

"I can't hear. Keep it down Tolle."

"Will the two of you please be quiet." Sai said.

_"Quiet! Quiet!" _Haro yelled.

The door slid opened and revealed Natarle with a stern expression. "What are you doing? The enemy could still out there! Get back to your stations!" She ordered as they ran away. Mikeva looked into the room and waved at friend as she waved back.

"So Mikeva," Kira said. "How do you know Lacus Cylne?" Cassandra asked.

"You know how my mother is a US senator. She used to travel to the PLANTs as a representative of NATO. She used to take me with her." Mikeva said as she though back to the day they meet. "I actually meet Lacus during one of our visits. We weren't allowed into the meetings, so we just talked and got to know each other. But then the war broke out..." She stopped.

"I understand. With the war going on, you haven't been able to travel to the PLANTs." Kira said.

"All the more reason to end this war as quickly as possible." Zeke said.

_The Vesalius hangar..._

Athrun existed out of the elevator with his briefcase. He saw that Rau and his father were having a discussion. As he floated by he saluted the two.

"Wait, Athrun." Patrick said. The Aegis pilot stopped and turned around. "I assume you've heard about Lacus."

"I have." He turned to Rau. "But why employ the Vesalius for a search?"

"Come now. What a cold man you've turned out to be." The masked man replied. "It's only natural that we head out and search for the young lady."

"But we haven't even verified that any happened to the crew. And it's a civilian ship."

"It hasn't been made public," Patrick said. "But the Asura team encountered the legged ship from Heliopolis and lost two units in the process." This new information surprised Athrun.

"Junius Seven has been drawn in by Earth's gravity, and is now within the debris belt. Not a suitable location." Rau stated. "And the Gamow did retreat from Artemis."

"Wait, are you saying..."

"All the PLANTs are fully aware that you and Ms. Clyne are together, and that you are destined to be as one." Patrick said. "You're part of the Le Creuset team, and since you can't sit back idly, neither can they. She's a well-loved idol. We're counting on you. Le Creuset, Athrun."

The two of them saluted as Patrick made his way to the elevator.

"So I'm to go out and rescue her, and then come back and play the part of the hero?" Athrun asked.

"Or come back, and in public display, weep bitter tears over her still corpse." Rau said, shocking Athrun. "Whichever it is, Committee chairman Zala believes he knows who has the duty to go. It's you." And with that he floated away.

Athrun didn't like the situation at all. While he did care deeply for Lacus' safety, he didn't how Commander Le Creuset and his father would use this as propaganda. And with news of the legged ship near Junius Seven, he knew Kira would never let anything bad happen to Lacus but worried about what the NATO officers on the ship would do. The whole thing left a sour taste in his mouth.

_The Debris belt..._

The engines ignited as the Archangel made its way out of the Debris belt. In the hanger, the technicians were working as fast as they could to fix the damage to the Strike's arm.

Lacus was playing with Haro until she heard a knock. "Come in." The door slid open and saw Mikeva. The volunteer pilot sat across from her pink-haired friend.

"You know, when I was first brought onto this ship, seeing you again was the last thing I excepted." Mikeva said.

"I know exactly what you mean." The songstress replied. "I guess we have some catching up to do."

Kira was walking through the hallway as he remembered the red GINN that damaged the Strike. Up until now, he thought the only mobile suit that could beat a Gundam was another Gundam. But the last fight proved him wrong.

_"How did he do that?"_

"Hey, Kira!" The young man looked and saw the other brown-haired coordinator.

"Hey, Ezekiel."

"Oh come on, you can call me Zeke." The engineer said. The two of them started walking together. "So, a lot crazy stuff has happened so far. Out of all the people in the entire galaxy, the one person we pick up is Lacus Cylne herself."

"Are you a fan of hers?" Kira asked.

"Not really. Personally I can't pop songs, but my little sister is a big fan of her music. On the other hand, my youngest brother is the _other _kind of Lacus Clyne fan."

_"Bow chicka wow wow!" _Haro followed up. The younger coordinator laughed at this.

"So, Mr. Moody can laugh." Zeke said. He put his arm around Kira. "Look, I know that you've been dealing with a lot heavy shit on your mind. You don't need to tell me what it is, just know this. A situation is only a dim as how you make it. If you go into a fight with a losing attitude, chances are that you'll end up flat on your face. But if you go in with a determination to win, you'll end up on top."

"Wow, that's pretty deep."

"It's just something my dad once told me." The two coordinators smiled.

"No way!" A female voice yelled. Kira and Zeke walked into the mess hall and saw Mirillia and Flay in an argument while Kuzzey and Gale stood by.

"Flay."

"I said it and I meant it."

"What wrong with them?" Kira asked.

"You mean besides a really stupid argument." Gale said.

"They're talking about that girl's meal." Kuzzey responded. "Mir asked Flay to take it to her, but Flay refuses. That's all they've been arguing about."

"No way! I'm not gonna go anywhere near a coordinator! I'm too afraid." The red-haired girl said. Kira's expression turned a bit angry while Zeke just signed.

"Well I'm gonna leave." The Minuteman pilot said as he got up. "Before I beat the shit out of this girl." The last part he said under his breath.

Mir saw Kira and Zeke. "Flay!"

"Oh!" Flay just noticed the two of them. "You're different Kira. I know that much for sure." She turned back to Mir. "But that girl is associated with ZAFT! Coordinators, they're not only smart, but they're gifted with other things like better reflexes. What would happen if I were attacked?"

"Um, you do know that Lacus Cylne is just a pop singer." Zeke said. "Saying that she'll attack you is like saying I'll become an atheist."

_"Unlikely!" _Haro said.

"You don't know that for certain. You can't tell what a coordinator is capable of just by looking at them. What if they happen to be really strong, right?"

"My, who's this really strong person you're talking about?" Everyone turned and saw Mikeva and the pink-haired idol herself standing in the entrance. Everyone but Zeke was unnerved by this sudden appearance.

Meanwhile, another heavy conservation was about to happen on the bridge.

"Give me a break." Mu said as he floated by Murrue in the captain's chair. "The minute we survive a battle with an enemy squad, we get throw another problem in the form of a pink-haired princess. The endless challenges we face. This is a real treat captain." He said with a smile and a salute.

"What choice do we have? We're stuck taking that girl to lunar headquarters." Murrue stated.

_"We have no more stopovers among the way."_ Mitsukai commented.

"But if we took her to an Earth Forces HQ, despite the fact that she's a civilian..."

"They'd welcome her with open arms." The Zero pilot said. "She is Clyne's daughter after all. She'd come in handy in so many ways."

"_The PR department would have field day with this." _Chester said.

"I hope to avoid making her go through any of that. A young girl like her. A civilian no less."

"If you're bringing that up, what about them?" Natarle said. "These guys have helped navigate the ship. They've fought with us in battle. And yet they too are just young civilians." She felt a piece of cold steel touch the back of head and heard a gun click. She turned her head slowly and saw Cassandra with a very ticked off face.

"Just stop what you're thinking right now Ensign Bagerieul." The gundam pilot said anger clear in her voice.

"Warrant Officer Slade!" Murrue yelled.

"Cassandra, what the hell?!" Mu asked.

"Relax captain, this isn't a mutiny. I just had a feeling that one of you guys would try to use Lacus Clyne as a hostage. One thing I cannot tolerate is military officers who use civilians as tools."

Murrue grimaced as she remembered her first encounter with the young newtype.

"The fact is, we've already involved Kira Yamato and the others in this war. But you have to understand. That girl is Cylne's daughter." Natarle said.

"I don't give a damn who she is! She's a civilian and we're not going to get her involved. Kira and the others volunteered. That's the difference between them and that girl." She pressed the gun closer. "They only need to be on this ship until we arrive somewhere safe."

"If you shoot me, you'll be court-martialed or executed!" The black-haired ensign said, sweat going down her forehead.

"I'm not going to shoot you unless you actually use that girl. And you won't punish me for this incident. I'm the only one who can pilot the Astray Green." Cassandra replied as she put her gun away. "But if you or any officer on this fleet use her or hold her hostage, I won't hesitate to put you down." And with that she left, leaving a stunned bridge crew behind. Chester actually started to laugh.

"_I like this girl! She's a real firecracker!"_ The older newtype exclaimed with a smile.

_Back in the mess hall..._

"I apologize if I caused a commotion." Lacus said.

"There's no need to for that." Zeke said as he walked to her. "But can I ask you something Ms. Cylne?"

"Go ahead."

"Would it be too much to ask to take a picture with you?" The mechanic said with a blush. "My family is never going to believe I met you unless I have actually proof."

The young girl smiled. "No, I wouldn't mind at all."

"Awesome." Zeke stood next to her as his Haro opened its mouth and revealed a camera.

_"Smile!" _Haro said as he took the picture. Zeke stepped and away bowed. "Thank you miss."

"You're welcome. So would this be considered the dining room? I would greatly appreciate a bite to eat."

"Right on the dot, Ms. Cylne."

"Hey! Hold on a minute." Kira said.

"Why wouldn't they lock her room?" Kuzzey asked.

"I let her out." Mikeva said.

"You must be nuts!" Flay yelled. "Why would you let someone from ZAFT walk around this ship?"

"For one, she was hungry and no one was bringing any food. And two, she's not part of ZAFT. ZAFT is the military force of the PLANTs." The GINN pilot replied.

"What she says is true." Lacus said. "I'm not part of ZAFT. You see ZAFT actually stands for Zodiac Alliance of Freedom..."

"That makes no difference!" Flay interrupted. "You're still one of those coordinators!"

"There is a significant difference. You're right of course; I am not a natural like you. But I don't belong to the forces, believe me." The songstress looked at the red-head's wardrobe. "And you're not with the forces either, are you? So if you think about it, you and I are the same." She held her hand out. "Please, let me introduce myself. My name is..."

"No! Stop it!" Flay yelled as she backed away from Lacus like she had a disease. "Just keep your distance!" Everyone looked at Flay, some with confusion (Mir and Kuzzey) and others with anger (Kira, Mikeva and Zeke). "You must be nuts! Why should I shake hands with somebody like you? I don't any of you coordinators acting friendly with me!"

_SMACK!_

Flay fell to the floor with a red hand mark on her face. She looked and saw Mikeva standing over her. "Are you a member of Blue Cosmos?"

"No, I'm not!" The red-head said with fear in her voice. She slowly got up. "But the stance those people take, I don't think they're exactly wrong."

"And why is that?" Zeke asked.

"Anyone who has their genes operated on when they're not sick or anything, is against what nature intended."

"Be that as it may," Zeke said. "Have you ever considered that some people might not have even been born if it wasn't for the coordinator process."

"What do you mean?"

"By your logic, anyone who's a coordinator doesn't deserve to be alive, right?"

"But... That..." Flay said, stunned by what the young mechanic said.

"Let's go Lacus." Mikeva grabbed a tray of food and the two friends walked out of the room.

"I got to work on the mobile suits." Zeke said as Haro followed him. Kira followed shortly, leaving a confused and stunned Flay with Kuzzey and Mir.

_The Misfit..._

Alex was in his room, reading an old comic book. He thought back to what happened with those mobile suits. The scientists were astonished by the beam saber he stole and said it was next generation tech. He smirked as he remembered the way those pilots fought. They were rookies, but they had a lot of potential.

"Those mobile suits sure are something. I guess this war is about to get more intense." He said with a smile.

"_Commander?" _A voice asked from the intercom. The Dragon of Nova put his comic away and pressed the button.

"What is it?"

"_That new transfer from the Creuset team just arrived. Do you want to greet him?" _

"You bet." The red coat left his room and headed toward the hangar. The first thing he noticed was an orange GINN with a skull & crossbones on its shield and right shoulder being worked on by their mechanics. The second thing he noticed was a blonde-haired green coat he had never seen before. "Hey! New guy!" He yelled.

The new guy looked up and saw the red coat. "You're Alex Gables."

"So I take it you know me." The red coat said as floated toward him.

"Of course I have. Who hasn't heard of the Dragon of Nova?"

Alex landed in front of the green coat. "Well you already know me. So what's your name?"

The blonde man saluted. "Miguel Aiman, reporting for duty."

Alex saluted back. "At ease, soldier." The two of put their arms down.

_The Archangel..._

The communications officer was sitting at his booth. A window with static opened up and the officer started typing away. "Captain!"

Meanwhile, the technicians were working on the Minutemen as they attached new weapons. Some worked on the Astray Green as several wires were attached to its left arm while others worked on the shield and hyper bazooka.

"What? Are you certain?" Murrue asked.

"There's no mistaking it. This is a coded pulse of the Eight Fleet."

"Can you retrieve it?" Natarle asked.

"I'm doing that right now." He pressed a few buttons as he deciphered it.

_"This is... The Montgomery of the Eighth NATO Fleet …. advanced troop. Archangel, Balder, Dallas, please respond." _

"They're under Admiral Halberton's command." The brown-haired captain said with a smile. Nearly everyone on the bridge signed.

"Are they looking for us?" Arnold asked.

"I believe they are still a significant distance from us."

"But with we link up with them..."

"Ya, we can finally breath a sign of relief."

As Zeke and Kira walked down the hallway, the slightly older engineer saw the down expression on Kira's face. "Don't let what she said get to you. If I got sad every time someone said something bad about coordinators, I'd be a full-blown emo." He turned toward Kira and smiled. "Come on, working on the mobile suits will get your mind off it." He started walking ahead. The younger coordinator smiled.

"Thanks Zeke."

"Don't mention it."

On the Dallas, Sosuke smiled as Chester light a cigar. "You think the Dragon will attack us again?" The doctor asked.

"The man is an ace pilot but he's not stupid. Even that custom CGUE of his, I doubt he could destroy the fleet by himself."

_The Vesalius..._

"What's the matter?" Rau asked as he floated next to Adas.

"We think they're NATO vessels." The captain said as they looked at a video feed of several ships. "What are they doing out here?"

"If the legged ship were journeying from Artemis to the moon's NATO headquarters." The masked man said.

"So those vessels are there to escort them or resupply them?"

"They haven't detected us yet, have they? Don't lose sight of them. Follow them carefully." He ordered.

"But..."

"Of course, we will still continue our search for Ms. Cylne. At the same time, we can't lose this opportunity all because of one girl. I would hate to be laughed at by historians of future generations."

In the mobile suit hangar, Athrun looked at the Aegis from the observation booth. _"You're out there somewhere. I know I'll see you again."_

**Next Time: The Fading Light**

**Never Give up and fire Gundam!**


	9. Chapter 9

_Phase 9: The Fading Light_

_The Archangel…_

"_The arrival time with our fleet will be as scheduled." _Captain Coopman said on the two-way. _"Once we link up, the Archangel will come under the command of this vessel and we'll proceed together to the main fleet. You've almost made it. I wish you safe passage."_

The camera widened and showed a brunette man dressed in a tan business suit. He sat in a chair next to Coopman.

"_I am Vice-minister George Allster of NATO. I'd like to thank you for your initiative in managing the civilian rescue operations. Oh and one other thing. I was scanning the list of recently acquired passengers, and of course you can imagine my surprise and delight to see the name of my daughter, Flay. I'd be more than grateful if I could see a glimpse of her."_

"_Vice minister, you'll have plenty of time to see her when they join us." _Coopman said.

"That's Flay's father. There's no doubt about it." Sai said with a smile.

Kira sat in the cockpit of the Strike as he worked on the systems. He heard a knock and opened the hatch, revealing Cassandra.

"Hey. Is something up?" Kira asked.

"Zeke told me what Ms. Allster said. Are you okay?" The curly-haired pilot asked.

"Of course I am. I've heard worse." He continued to type as he watched Zeke and several workers attached a weapon onto Takashi's GINN. "Tolle told me you held a gun at ensign Badgeruel. Is that true?"

Cassandra thought for a moment before answering. "It's true."

"So why did you do it?" Kira asked a little shocked.

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, there are people in the military who would use Ms. Clyne as a political hostage. And unfortunately, Natarle is one of those people." And with that she floated away. Unknown to either of them, Zeke heard their conversation.

_ZAFT ships…_

A group of six vessels traveled together. The small fleet consisted of four Laurasia-class, one of which was the Misfit, and two Nazca-class, the leader being the Vesalius.

On the bridge of the Vesalius, Adas, Rau, Athrun and two green coats stood near the star map of the area as Alex and his teammates were present via video-link.

"This is the projected course of the enemy ships." Adas said.

"_If the legged ship has reaches the fleet, we'll be in for quite a fight. Those guys took out two of my men in one battle. But on the up side, I did snag a sweat beam saber off the blue one."_

"In any case, we certainly can't ignore them." The masked man said.

"We're intercepting them? But commander, we've been ordered to search for Lacus." Athrun said.

"First and foremost, we're soldiers Athrun. Even if we were sent on a mission to search for Miss Clyne, we won't have another opportunity like this any time soon." Rau said.

_The Montgomery…_

Crewmen worked on several Minutemen and Zero units as they made their way to the rendezvous point.

"Come on people! Move it a little faster!" An EU officer said as he walked past a Zero.

"Why do we to work on these if it's just a rendezvous mission?"

"You forget who's chasing the Archangel and its escorts. They're the same guys who attacked Heliopolis and Artemis! It's safe to assume that they'll try something very soon."

_The Archangel, Balder and Dallas…_

"Radar is picking up three ships. They've been identified as our escorts, Montgomery, Bernard and Law." Everyone on the ships either smiled or gave a sigh of relief. However this moment was short lived as a static noise started up.

"Oh, Bullocks!" Chester cursed.

"N-Jammers." Mitsukai grunted.

In the distance, the ZAFT vessels started to launch their mobile suits. On the Misfit, Miguel's Custom GINN was loaded onto the catapult.

"_You've fought these guys twice, Miguel." _Alex said. _"So I expect nothing but your best out there." _

"I will sir." Miguel replied. _"Unless Athrun screws up again." _The blonde thought, remembering Athrun's actions during the raid on the Archangel. "Miguel Aiman, launching!" The orange GINN took off.

The Aegis was also prepping for launch as Athrun did some last minute checks.

"_The commander really has a knack for sensing these things." _

"_Athrun, show us how that machine performs!" _

"Sure." The blue-haired pilot uneasily said. A GINN launched from the ships and the Aegis moved to the catapult. As Athrun's machine was clamped, he thought about recent events.

"_We fight because it is the only way we can protect ourselves! If we must fight so that we may protect, then we have to choice but to fight!"_

_"You think we're monsters?! You attacked a neutral colony and killed innocent civilians! How can you call us the bad guys?"_

"Athrun Zala, launching!" The Aegis took off into space as its armor turned red. The stolen mobile suit joined up with its allies. Alex looked at the G-Weapon with interest.

"A red one? Now that's a real paintjob. Okay men, let them have it!" The dragon yelled.

Alerts blared on the Montgomery, warning them of the incoming enemies. "Hurry up and deploy our mobile armors and suits. Load all missile and anti-beam depth charge tubes." Coopman ordered. The two Drake classes deployed their eight Moebius Zeroes while eight Minutemen (Three normal, two with shot lancers, two with missile launchers and one with a railcannon) separated from the Nelson-class. The mobile weapons flew ahead to meet the enemy.

"Heat sources, sir! Thirty-five enemy mobile suits approaching!"

"Now what's this all about?" George asked with anger in his voice. "How could you not have noticed the enemy ship until now?"

"Lower bow! Pitch angle thirty degrees! Turn to point, angle twenty degrees!" The captain ordered. "Send a message to the Archangel, Balder and Dallas! Tell them to get here as fast as they can!"

"You're serious?" The vice-minister asked.

"We don't have the firepower to take on this many hostiles. What else are we supposed to do in this kind of emergency?"

"But my daughter is on the Archangel!"

"If this ship ends up being destroyed, the Archangel will surely be next."

The two groups meet up and in less than six seconds, the sky light up as the battle started.

"Heat distribution ahead appears to be a battle." Petty Officer Chandra reported. "The advanced fleet appears to be involved."

"They're in battle?" Sai asked.

"Dispatch from the Montgomery. Message reads: SOS. Please assist and deploy all mobile forces." Romero said.

"_Well what are we waiting for? Let's blast these wankers!" _Chester yelled with enthusiasm.

"_What's the enemy's battle strength?" _Mitsukai asked.

"_Four Laurasia-class, two Nazca-class. Matching thermal patterns. Thrity-three GINNs, one CGUE. Wait a minute, there's another one. It's X-303 Aegis!" _

"Then we know exactly which Nazca-class is among them." Murrue stated.

A Zero detached its gunbarrels and fired upon the Aegis. The red suit dodged the shots and destroyed an approaching gunbarrel with its CIWS. Athrun retaliated with his beam rifle and turned the Zero into dust.

"All hands, level one battle stations! We'll provide back-up for the advanced fleet!" The brown-haired captain ordered.

"_All hands, level one battle stations!" _The PA blared. The pilots rushed to the hangar, mentally preparing for the battle to come.

"What's going on? Everything's suddenly so lively." Lacus asked Mikeva.

"Looks like we're heading into battle." The older woman said.

"So you'll be fighting too." The songtress said with a hint of sadness.

Mikeva gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Lacus. My mom always says I'm too stubborn. Just promise me you'll stay in here." The volunteer pilot said. The pink-haired girl nodded.

"_Good luck!" _Mr. Pink yelled. Mikeva smiled as she ran out of the room.

Kira ran toward the hangar as a voice stopped him in his tracks. "Kira!" He turned around and felt a little ticked as he saw Flay running toward him; the slap mark Mikeva gave her still present on her cheek.

"What's all this about going to battle stations? What about the advanced fleet?" The red head asked.

"I have no idea. I don't know what's going on." The young pilot tried to go, but Flay grabbed his shoulder.

"It... It's gonna be okay right?" Flay asked. "The vessel my dad's on won't be destroyed, will it?"

While he was still mad at her, the young coordinator still couldn't bring himself to tell her about her father's possible death. He smiled at her. "Everything will be alright Flay. We'll be there, okay?" And with that he left.

A few feet away, a GINN fired its recoilless rifle at a Minuteman, destroying its shield. The green mobile suit pulled out its heat saber and dug it into the GINN's neck.

Miguel shot down a barrage of missiles and charged at Minuteman Weapon. He impaled the suit through the cockpit and left it dead in the water.

Alex unleashed his CGUE's machinegun pods and caused the enemy units to evade or block. The red & black unit blasted toward the nearest Zero and sliced it in half with its gunblade.

The Aegis headed toward the Bernard and was about to shoot its engines, but a linear blast pushed the G-Weapon back. The Minuteman with the railcannon fired two more shots that shook the stolen suit but failed to cause any damage. The gundam transformed into its attack mode and eviscerated the Minuteman with its Scylla cannon. Miguel came onto the scene and fired his Ion cannon at the engines. With the vessel disabled, the two machines headed to engage other targets.

"Escort ship Bernard has lost its engines."

"X-303 Aegis is headed toward escort ship Law."

"We're being destroyed by our own machine that they stole? Is there anything more ridiculous?!" George yelled.

The four Icarus units detached from the Balder and headed into battle. In lead machine was piloted by a woman with auburn hair and brown eyes. (Voice: Sumalee Montano)

"Alright boys, let's show these Zafties what the Icarus can do!"

"_Roger Lieutenant Wallace." _

The Hyperion was loaded onto the Dallas' catapult as Gaius cracked his knuckled. "Just when I thought things would get boring. Gaius Ismail, ready to go!" The red & white gundam launched into battle.

On the Archangel, the Moebius Zero and the Astray Green were loaded onto the catapult.

"_Remember, once it's turned on, the Firebrand can only stay active for fifteen seconds. After that, you can't use it for the rest of fight." _Zeke told the gundam pilot.

"Roger that." Cassie replied as she looked at the weapon screen for the Apollo. "Gundam Astray Green, heading out!" The two mobile weapons were shot ahead and meet up with their allies.

A Minuteman was blown apart by missile barrage. The GINN pilot who fired it laughed. _"Even with their own mobile suits, the naturals still have no chance." _His alarms blared. _"What?" _Two streams of green energy tore through the mono-eyed machine, causing it to explode into stardust.

"_What was that?" _Another GINN pilot asked. The Zero and the Icarus squads flew through the smoke and past the GINN. _"More mobile armors?" _Without warning, two blue blades of frozen energy pierced through its chest as the Astray Green kicked it away. The Hyperion joined it as the two headed into battle.

A GINN aimed its cannon at the Montgomery but it was blasted to pieces by Hyperion's beam submachine gun. The red & white mobile suit stopped front of the bridge.

"_This is Lieutenant Gaius Ismail of the Dallas. We're here to help." _A GINN launched its leg-mounted missiles but Gaius shot them down with his head vulcans.

Meanwhile, the Icarus units engaged the GINNs in a heated battle. One Icarus unit barrel-rolled out the way from a stream of bullets and shot back with its missiles, while another used its nose-mounted Vulcans to destroy an enemy ion cannon. Wallace's Icarus fired its linear gatling gun and pulverized a GINN. Another mobile suit was closing in from behind, but the gatling gun turned around and destroyed the approaching enemy with a stream of charged blasts.

Back on the Archangel, the Strike was being equipped with the Launcher Striker as it was the only pack that could be operated with one hand.

"_Course cleared for launch. You may precede Strike." _The lights turned from red to green as the white and blue mobile suit launched into space. It was soon followed by the Minutemen who had been upgraded in the past week. The heat sabers were replaced with beam sabers while the machine guns were replaced by beam submachine guns. The group approached the warzone, with the ships right behind them.

"Lohengrins, target the nearest enemy warship!" Chester ordered.

"Prep all vulcan guns for anti-ship and anti-mobile suit combat." Mitsukai said. "Launch torpedoes!"

"Valiant 1 and Valiant 2, fire." Natarle ordered.

Green blasts, torpedoes and linear shots flew from the three warships. The Lohengrins hit the bow of a Laurasia-class, the torpedoes were intercepted by the CIWS of the ZAFT vessels while the Valiants destroyed two GINNs.

"Archangel, Balder and Dallas have opened fire." One of Montgomery's officers reported.

Coopman smirked at this new information. "Now that's more like it."

On the Vesalius, Rau also had a smirk, albeit a more sinister one. "So the lead player has made its appearance. Don't expend your energy on the ones that don't matter." He addressed the troops.

The Aegis pierced the hull of the Law with its Scylla cannon. The alarms in the cockpit blared as Athrun looked at the screen and saw the approaching Strike Gundam. The red suit closed in as it transformed back into its mobile suit mode. He was about to close in on the white and blue mobile suit, but a hail of fast beams shots stopped him in his tracks. Luke and Gale in their respective mobile suits closed in.

"_Strike, we'll deal with this bastard. Just concentrate on the enemy vessels." _Gale said.

"_Roger." _The Strike flew away as Kira felt a twist in his stomach.

"You serious think you can beat me with those knockoffs?" Athrun yelled as he fired his beam rifle at the NATO suits, only for them to dodge and retaliate. To the young man's surprise, the shot actually damaged the Aegis, causing small explosions. "They've been equipped with beam weaponry." The two green machines blasted towards the enemy gundam, determined to take it down. They separated and charged at the Aegis from two directions.

"_Let's go Gale!" _Luke yelled as he activated his orange beam saber.

"_Hell yeah!" _His wingman replied as he did the same.

Athrun only had a second to react and activated the Aegis' arm-mounted beam sabers. The four blades met in a shower of sparks as the pilots started pushing, two forward and one back. With all its strength, the Aegis pushed the Minutemen back and flew away in its mobile armor mode. The twin mobile suits pursued the red machine with their weapons loaded.

Mu La Flaga chased after a GINN has his targeting axis lined up. The ZAFT machine fired at the mobile armor which spun away from the shots and released its gunbarrels. The wired weapon opened and destroyed the enemy mobile suit. Also immediately, another GINN flew up right next to the Zero and aimed its rifle at it. Just as the one-eyed machine was about to fire but a group of missiles closed in on it, causing it to back up and shoot down two missiles as the other four hit it straight on. Mikeva and Takashi's Minuteman Weapons stopped next to the Zero.

"_Are you alright Lieutenant La Flaga?" _Mikeva asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the save. Now go meet up with Ismail and protect the Montgomery." The blonde pilot ordered.

"_Yes sir." _The Minutemen headed towards the flagship as the Zero retracted its gunbarrels and flew off.

The Launcher Strike flew past the CIWS of a Laurasia and fired its Agni Cannon, destroying one of the high-energy cannons. Its combo weapon pod unleashed its payload and took out the dual railgun before aiming its cannon and destroying the last energy cannon.

On the Archangel, Flay opened the door as she ease-dropped on the bridge.

"Gottfried 1, aim, fire!" Natarle ordered.

"What's the status on the Gundams?" Murrue asked.

"Strike has disabled one of the Laurasia-class and is heading for another target. Astray Green has engaged a GINN in combat and Hyperion has formed a defensive perimeter around the Montgomery along with the Weapons." Mir reported.

"_The lead Nazca-class is launching missiles. It's targeting the Law." _

"_Intercept them!" _Mitsukai ordered as the Blader fired a missile barrage.

Kuzzey was working on his terminal as he noticed a certain red head floating into the room. "Flay?" Everyone turned and saw the girl.

"Hey Flay!" Sai said as he got up from his chair.

"Dad! Tell me where my dad's ship is!" She yelled as Sai grabbed a hold on her arm.

Murrue lowered her brow with a serious expression. "We're in a combat situation; civilians are not permitted on the bridge."

"What ship is my dad on? What is going on out there?" The young girl asked, panic growing in her voice.

A flash shone through one of the screens as a Drake-class ship was destroyed.

"_The Law has been taken out." _

Flay stood still as her brain still tried to process the destruction she just witnessed. "Flay, let's go. You shouldn't be in here." Sai said as he led her out of the bridge. When they got out Flay grabbed her fiancé's shoulders as she shook. "Where are Kira and the others? What have they been doing all this time?"

"They're trying their very best, but this is largest battle we've been in so far so it's difficult."

"But listen! Kira told me everything was going to be okay! He said in his own words that it was because we'll be there."

The Dallas aimed it Lohengrins and fired. The green blasts almost hit Alex who dodged at the last second before they hit their target and destroyed the bridge of the second Nazca-class.

"Everything's going to be fine." Sai said as he walked Flay back to her room. "Ship your father is on is being protected by the Hyperion. It'll be fine."

A blast shook the ship as Flay tried to run back to the bridge. Sai grabbed her arm to stop her. "Flay!"

"Stop it!" The red head said as she struggled. "I said let go!" She elbowed Sai in the chest with a surprising amount of strength as she ran away. The bespectacled youth held his chest in pain as he wondered how Flay could have done that.

"_This feeling of being useless, I hate it!" _Flay thought. _"I have to something, anything! Or else Dad is gonna…" _

_In this quiet night__  
__I'm waiting for you__  
__Forgetting the past__  
__And dreaming of you_

The young girl stopped as she heard singing. She looked around and saw a nearby room.

_Time passes by__  
__And memories fade__  
__But time can't erase__  
__The love that we've made_

An idea she would later regret came to Flay's mind as she headed for the room.

_And the stars in the sky…_

The door opened as Lacus stopped singing and saw Flay.

Outside, the Astray fired its TSR upon a GINN but the machine dodged the shots as it chased after the gundam. The mobile suits flew toward a Laurasia-class as they dodged each other's attacks. The enemies flew downward while Cassandra started to sweat. "Damn it. Why can't I hit this guy?"

The machines flew under the Laurasia-class as the GINN shot the Twin Sword Rifle out of the Astray's hands. It continued to fire on the green & white mobile suit as said machine blocked the shots with its shield as they made it underneath the ships' engines.

The ebony-haired pilot looked at her weapon options and saw the Firebrand. "No time like the present I guess." She pressed a button on her control stick. The right arm of the Astray opened up and revealed a cylindrical device with a gray part at the end. The targeting axis turned red as Cassie pulled the trigger.

A concentrated red laser shot out of the arm-mounted device and pierced the right shoulder of the GINN. However, the laser didn't stop there as it shot through the appendage and pierced through the hull of Laurasia, destroying and blasting through the railgun. The bright stream got the attention of all the combatants.

"Take this!" The Astray Green moved its arm horizontally as it separated the GINN's top from its torso and sliced through several sections of the Laurasia. The last thing the bridge crew saw was a red stream of death as their lives faded away. The red beam finally separated from the ship as the two parts separated, sliced in half.

"What the hell was that?!" Miguel yelled.

"Was that fired by one of our ships?" George asked.

"That must be the new weapon Zeke was talking about." Tolle commented as everyone of the bridge of the Archangel was stunned by the amazing display.

The grey end of the Firebrand detached as it went back into the Astray's arm. Cassie looked around and saw the Twin Sword Rifle floating among the debris. The mobile suit flew ahead and grabbed the composite weapon. With her signature hand-held armament back, Cassie looked at her energy levels and was happily surprised that the Firebrand didn't consume any of her mobile suit's battery. With a smile, she stepped on the foot pedals with a smile and flew into battle.

On the Archangel, Flay was dragging Lacus to the bridge.

"What is going on? Why are you doing this?" The pink-haired pop star asked only to be ignored.

"I'd answer the question Ms. Allster." The two women turned and saw a serious looking Zeke with Haro next to him. "What do you think you're doing with Ms. Lacus?"

"_Answer! Answer!" _Haro yelled as he bounced.

"This girl is the chairman's daughter right, so that means she's incredible important to ZAFT." The red head said with a glare.

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm going to tell ZAFT that I'll kill this girl if they don't stop attacking my dad's ship."

"Kill me?" Lacus asked in fear.

"Listen to yourself! The pilots can handle it!" The young engineer exclaimed.

"Liar! I saw them destroy one of the escort ships. They can't protect my dad!"

"We're in the middle of battle! Of course people will die! You think your dad is the only one in danger?"

"Well you can't stop me." Flay started pulled Lacus away as the songstress struggled. His patience gone, Zeke charged at the red head as he pulled out a high-powered taser from his pocket.

"ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE YOU CRAZY BITCH!" He hit the red head in neck as electricity shot through her body, her screams being the only noise she uttered. Zeke pulled the taser away as Flay fell limp, letting go of Lacus as she fell onto the floor.

"_You killed her." _Haro stated.

"No I didn't." The green-eyed coordinator said as put away the taser. "That shock doesn't have enough strength to kill anyone, just enough to put them to bed." He turned toward the songstress. "Are you okay?"

Lacus nodded, a bit shaken by the recent events. "Thank you Mr. Hudson."

"W..Why?" The two of them looked down and saw Flay struggling to get up. "Why… did …you..."

"_Impossible! That shock is supposed to knockout any natural." _Zeke thought to himself.

On the Vesalius, Rau stood up from his chair. "We cannot waste anymore time. We need to destroy the Nelson-class. Then we can focus on the legged ship."

"Aim cannons at the Nelson-class." Adas ordered. "Prepare to fire on my command." The ship shook as a Minuteman Weapon took out the left cannon. Another Minuteman flew in front of bridge and aimed it Shot Lancers, but an ion blast took it out as Miguel's GINN flew through the smoke.

"_Commander, if you're going to do something, do it now!" _The Magic Bullet of Dusk yelled as he dodged gatling gun fire from an Icarus.

"You heard him. We still have one cannon left."

The CGUE Asura spun as it dodged the Bernard's vulcan guns. He aimed his gunblade,vulcan system and machinegun pods as he unleashed hell on the ship's bridge. He smirked at his victory until his alarm blared. The red machine dodged three beam shots and saw the Astray Green closing in on it. Since his pods were out of ammo, he retracted the wired weapons and charged at the enemy.

Cassie activated the TSR's blue beam sabers while Alex activated the pink one he had stolen from the Strike. The two weapons meet as the machines stared each other down.

"_So you're the one that sliced up the Vandal." _The Dragon of Nova commented. _"And they say my weapons are crazy." _

"_Flattery will get you nowhere." _Cassandra replied, even though she was scared out of her mind. _"Not what I expected from the Dragon of Nova." _

The Hyperion stabbed a GINN in the eye with its beam knife before kicking away and finishing it with his CIWS. A small screen appeared on one of his monitors.

**Laser designator detected. Suggest retreating.**

"I'm being targeted?" He looked around and saw the Vesalius closing in from the right. "No. They're targeting the Montgomery!" The EU machine flew in front of the right side as the pilot pressed a series of buttons. The Forfanterie beam cannon clamped over the shoulders.

"Nelson-class in sight."

"Fire!" Adas ordered.

The Vesalius' remaining cannon charged before unleashing a powerful stream of energy. When the blast neared the Montgomery, a blinding light shone through the darkness of space.

"So was that it?" Chester asked grimily.

The bridge crew of the Archangel started to worry. With the Montgomery destroyed, the Archangel and its escorts would be next.

"Wait a minute." Jackie said.

"What is it?" Natarle

"I'm picking up a new energy signature. It's similar to the Umbrella of Artemis."

The light faded away and revealed the Montgomery still intact. In front of it was the Hyperion surround by a dome of lightwave energy. The dome dissipated and revealed four wired emitters coming out of the front and back of the beam cannons.

"Alright! Way to go Gaius!" Mitsukai cheered.

"Amazing." Kira commented.

Rau grit his teeth. They had lost nearly all of their mobile suits, three of the Laurasias and one Nazca. "We've lost this battle. Order a full retreat."

Three flares were launched from the Vesalius as the fighting stopped. The remaining GINNs retreated from the warzone as they joined the retreating ships. The Aegis in its mobile suit form met up with Miguel's GINN.

Meanwhile, the Astray Green and CGUE Asura floated away from each other as their beam sabers powered down. Alex smirked as he flew away towards the Misfit.

In the cockpit, Cassandra pulled off her helmet and wiped off some sweat from her brow. "What a day. I could really use a power nap." She looked at her mobile suit's status screen, more specifically the arm-mounted Firebrand. The pilot chuckled. "Geez Zeke. You've really made something else when you built this Gundam."

The Strike flew toward the Astray as the allied ships flew towards the Montgomery. The mobile weapons started to return to the ships. The ebony-haired pilot was proud of herself and her friends as she flew back to the Archangel.

**Next time: Separate Ways**

**Cry for those who are lost Gundam!**


	10. Chapter 10

_Phase 10: Separate Ways_

_Unknown location…_

A lone man sat in a room with several monitors around him. On the monitors were shaded silhouettes so that their identities were secure. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe you know why I've called for this meeting."

"_The Allies and ZAFT are the only nations in the Earth Sphere with access to mobile suits."_

"_My nation has resisted joining the EU for decades. If they chose to evade us with those Minutemen, we would be mulled down in an instant." _

"_Our man inside NATO is already close to hacking the blue-prints for their next line of mobile suits."_

"_Hold up! Do really want to protect ourselves with the inventions of the coordinators?" _

"_They might be a slap in the face to nature, but they sure can make weapons."_

"_That doesn't mean we can accept their practice of altering genes before birth. Tampering with genetics to create the perfect human is exactly what the Nazis tried to accomplish."_

"_But to the world at large, we're nothing but a bunch of radical terrorists." _

"_We're trying to save humanity! We don't have time to worry about something as petty as public approval."_

"Well squawking like a bunch of hens isn't going to get us anywhere." The man said as he poured himself some wine. "After all, everything we do is for the preservation of our pure and blue world." He raised the glass before drinking it.

_The Vesalius…_

The Aegis returned to the hangar as its phase shift powered down. Athrun signed as he remembered the fight with those two Minutemen. _"In the span of two weeks, they were able to add beam weaponry to their regular mobile suit units. It seems that stealing the G-Weapons hasn't stopped them completely." _His face turned into a scowl as he remembered seeing the Strike attack a Laurasia-class. _"Have you really become an enemy? Will I have to shoot you down, Kira?" _

_The Montgomery…_

The four ships floated close to each other as a shuttle left from the Archangel. The passengers left the shuttle and headed toward the bridge. The doors on the bridge opened as Murrue, Mitsukai and Chester saluted.

"Lieutenants Murrue Ramius, Mitsukai Nagasawa and Manchester Black reporting sir." Murrue said.

"At ease." Coopman said with a salute. The four commanding officers put their arms down.

"Geez, Coopman. I forgot how big that honker of yours was." The male coordinator said trying to stifle a laugh.

"Chester!" Mitsu growled.

"It's alright. Nothing I haven't heard before." Coopman said. "So I take it you three are the respective captains of the three ships."

"That's correct sir." Murrue responded. "The Archangel and the Balder are the only ships that survived the raid on Heliopolis while the Dallas joined us after it we resupplied at Artemis."

"Speaking of which, how's the situation there?" Chester asked.

"Three days after you departed, they managed to bring the lightwave barrier back up and running. They had some trouble with pirates, but the Jerichos took care of them."

"Nice."

In the Archangel, technicians gathered around the Astray Green as they looked at it in awe. The cockpit opened and Cassandra floated out of it.

"So what do think of the Firebrand?" Zeke said as he floated toward her.

"It's amazing! But I have to ask. How could a blast like that not drain out the Gundam's battery?"

"That's because it's not powered by the mobile suit alone. Remember how the back of the Firebrand ejected?" The pilot nodded. "Well that was the micro-reactor. It generates enough energy to create that powerful laser attack. However, it overheats after one use so it has to be replaced it after each blast."

"Well how many were able to make on Heliopolis?"

"About twenty-three, not including the one you just used. Until I can get back to Morgenroete, I won't be able to make any more of them."

Cassie looked at her mobile suit as it stood in its birth. "In other words, we have to be smart about when we use it."

_The Misfit…_

Miguel entered his room and fell on his bed, tried from the fight. He thought back to sight of the Vandal being sliced in half by the Astray Green and the when he fought against the new mobile armors. "The people on Earth came up with some crazy weapons." He started to chuckle. "I guess they're as unpredictable as ever." He reached into his bag and pulled out an electric guitar. He adjusted the strings and started playing a light beat.

On the bridge, Alex was having a video chat with Adas and Rau.

"_Even if we continue to pursue them, our fleet is too damaged for an extended battle." _Adas stated.

"_And it's likely that their next move to rendezvous with the lunar fleet." _Rau followed up.

"So do we just sit back and let the legged ship gain more reinforcements?" Alex asked. "How soon can the _Gamow _get here?"

"_It'll take at least seven hours before it joins us here." _Adas said.

"_They'll be linking up with the lunar fleet well before then." _The masked man said. _"This is a tough one." _

George entered the Archangel as he looked around the corridors. He walked around the corner and saw a familiar head of red hair. "Flay?"

Said girl turned around the saw him. "Dad?" The girl teared up and ran towards her father, burying her face in his chest."Dad! It's really you!"

The vice-minister wrapped his arms around his daughter as he smiled. "Flay. Thank god, you're alright."

The red-head looked up at her father as tears of joy fell down. "When those ZAFT ships were attacking you... I … I thought that you were going to…"

"Okay honey. I'm here." The two of them hugged again. Kira and his friends saw this, their hearts warmed up by this touching reunion.

Meanwhile, Gaius stood in front of beverage machine as he looked at the selections. "Geez, how do they come up with some of these flavors?" He pressed the button and the machine ejected a beer.

"Lieutenant Ismail." He turned and saw Takashi and Mikeva.

"Hey. You guys did okay for a couple of rookies."

"Thanks." Mikeva said with a smile. "But give yourself some credit. You single-handily saved the Montgomery."

"To be honest, thank was more of a reckless last minute gamble if anything else." The middle-eastern pilot said rubbing the back of his head. "The lightwave barrier did most of the real work."

"He's got a point." Takashi said. "But there's no doubt that it was that single act of desperation is what saved many lives today."

"Sometimes all you need is a few seconds of insane courage." The three pilots turned around saw Lieutenant Wallace in her pilot suit. One look at her and Takashi was smitten. He walked up to her with a confident smile.

"Well hello there. I don't think we've meet." The tall pilot held out his hand. "I'm Takashi Ikari, Minuteman pilot, pleased to meet you."

Wallace was stunned before she chuckled. "That's cute. But I don't date kids." She walked past Takashi as his smile was replaced with a frown.

"I'm not a kid. I'm twenty-two." He said in a sad tone.

Mikeva held in a laugh while Gaius chuckled. "Always breaking hearts as usual, but did you have to be so blunt Liz?"

"If I recall, you broke some yourself, Mr. Junior Grade." The Icarus pilot said as she hit a button and grabbed a beer.

"And again with the rank pulling. Oh well." He raised his soda and Wallace did the same. "To the future victories."

"I'll drink to that." They hit their cans together and drank.

"My. Everyone seems to be having fun." Everyone turned and saw Lacus and her pink Haro.

In the hangar, Luke and Gale high-fived each other. "Dude, that was sweet! We owned that ZAFT bastard!" Luke said.

"Serves him right for stealing our mobile suits." Gale said with a smirk. He turned and saw Cassie talking with Zeke as he worked on a terminal while Haro bounced around.

"Hey, have you noticed that Cass has been hanging around that techy from Morgenroete a lot?"

Luke turned and saw the two. "Oh yeah. Well it's none of our business." The smaller pilot said as he walked away, while Gale watched the two with a look of concern before leaving.

_The Misfit…_

Miguel's orange GINN hid behind a rock as its mono-eye sensor looked around. The blonde green coat breathed heavily as he reloaded his assault rifle. Out of the corner of his screen, he saw four small blades. "Oh Sh…" A blast of machine gun fire interrupted him as rifle, eye, and shield were destroyed. The screen went dark as two large red words appeared on his screen.

**Simulation Over**

The young coordinator unbuckled himself. He exited the simulator as Alex did the same.

"You only won because of those gunbarrel things." Miguel complained.

"Quit whining." The red coat replied. "You've lasted longer than most of my sparring partners."

"Well you are the Dragon of Nova." The blonde said. "Not all of us can take down twenty-three enemies and sink two escort ships."

"If I recall, you made your career when they were moving Nova to Lagrange 3."

"Yes but there was only one battle, the rest of the time I spent babysitting a giant rock as it moved through space."

"My instructor once said that you can't expect every mission to be glamorous." Alex turned toward one of the officers. "Has the council made contact yet?"

"Chairman Zala has sent a private message to Commander Creuset. Other than that, we haven't been given any new orders."

Alex rubbed his chin as he thought for a moment. "Miguel, you've served under Le Creuset. What's your honest opinion about him?"

"Well, he's a definitely an ace pilot and strategist. He also has an uncanny sixth sense for battle, like he can see the future or something. But, he's also made some questionable decisions."

"Like Heliopolis, for example."

"Right. At the time, I was more focused on trying to destroy the Strike. But part of me had doubts about using D-type weaponry inside of a colony just to destroy one ship." Miguel looked his superior officer in the eye. "Why ask all these questions?"

"I don't why, but old silver mask gives me the creeps." The black-haired pilot said. "Especially since the council didn't punish him for actions at Heliopolis."

"He is one of our best pilots. And we are at war, so we need every good pilot out on the front lines."

"Even so, I say we keep an eye out on him." Alex floated toward the exit. "That guy just screams crazy."

_The Archangel…_

Flay and George sat across from each on opposite beds of the living quarters. The young girl had a sad expression on her face.

"So what did want to talk about?" The vice-minister asked his daughter.

The redhead thought for moment before responding. "When ZAFT started their attack, I was afraid that you would die. Kira, one of the pilots, promised me that the ship you were on would be safe. He promised that with a smile even after the horrible things I said."

George raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What horrible things?"

Flay looked down in shame. "I said that I didn't want any coordinators acting friendly me."

"During the battle, I saw one of the escort ships as it blew up. I started thinking that with all those enemies out there that the pilots wouldn't be able to save you. So I took one of the coordinators, someone important to ZAFT. I was going to demand that they stop attacking or… or else I would kill her."

George gasped, shocked that his little girl would do something like that.

"Luckily one of the engineers stopped me, but still… Daddy I'm so sorry." Flay said as she looked at her father with tears in her eyes. George signed as he rubbed his temples.

"I can't say that I'm not disappointed, but if the situation were reversed I might've done something just a crazy. However, I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." The vice-minister said as he looked at her sternly.

Meanwhile, Mikeva was in her pilot suit as she peeked into hangar. Lacus floated behind her in a spare space suit. Since she wore her dress underneath and had to crumble it up, she looked like she had a heavily pregnant belly. The idol held her pink Haro in her hands as her friend looked around.

"Okay, let's go." The two women floated toward Mikeva's Minuteman. Zeke was typing on his computer as his Haro turned and saw the pink Haro held in Lacus' arm.

"_Brother! Brother!" _The ball yelled. Zeke turned to see what the fuss was about and saw the two women about to enter the Minuteman.

"Mikeva? Ms. Lacus?" The young engineer pushed off the floor and approached them. He saw Lacus' suit and stared blankly at her stomach. "What the hell?"

"Hello Mr. Hudson." The pink-haired girl replied.

"What's going on here?" The engineer asked.

"Mikeva is returning me to the ZAFT forces."

"Won't get in really big trouble for this?" Zeke asked the pilot in question as she opened the cockpit.

"Zeke, you stopped Allster from hurting Lacus. I'm not going to let the top brass use her as bargaining tool."

The emerald-eyed coordinator thought for a second before smiling. "Then you'll need someone to operate the catapult."

"I want to help too." The three of them turned and saw Kira in his pilot suit. "There might be chance the enemy ships will open fire before we get the chance to talk."

Mikeva nodded. "Lacus, go with him. You'll be safer in the Strike."

"Okay." She nodded before turning toward him. "I don't believe I know your name."

"I'm Kira Yamato."

"Then please take care of me Mr. Yamato."

The young pilot smiled and gave a thumb's up. "You got it."

A few minutes later, the two mobile suits left their births and started moving toward the catapults. Lacus floated in the cockpit of the Strike and Zeke worked at the catapult controls. "Opening the hatch!"

On the bridge, alert signals appeared on the computer screens. "What's going on?" Kuzzey asked.

The twin catapults opened up. The officers on the Montgomery saw this.

"What the hell?" Chester said. "Contact the Archangel."

"Natarle, what's happening?" Murrue asked as soon the com turned on.

"_It's the Strike and one of the Minutemen!" Natarle exclaimed. "Yamato, Lago! What are you two doing?" _

"_Forget it guys. The kids have taken Ms. Cylne out. The airlock's already been opened so it's too late." _Mu responded.

"Ms. Cylne?" Coopman asked.

The Minuteman grabbed its beam submachine gun and its shield while the Strike was equipped with the Aile Striker.

"_Here we go." _Mikeva said.

"_Right." _Kira responded.

The two mobile suits launched from the ship as the Strike's PSA activated. They made a U-turn and headed towards the ZAFT fleet.

_The Vesalius…_

"_We've confirmed two mobile suits launching from the legged ship."_ The radar officer reported.

"_All hands, level one battle stations! All mobile suit pilots prepare for launch at once!"_

Athrun entered the Aegis and started prepping it. On the Misfit, Alex did the same as he sat in his CGUE.

Outside, the two mobile suits started to close in on the ships. _"This is Weapon 2 of the NATO vessel Archangel. Within the Strike is the daughter of PLANT Supreme Council chairman Siegel Cylne. We rescued Miss Lacus Cylne from the debris field and as a gesture of good will; we will return her to you." _Mikeva declared.

The ZAFT officers were shocked by this revelation.

"Lacus was on the legged ship?" Athrun said to himself. "And the commander ordered us to destroy it."

"Is this some kind of trick?" Miguel thought.

"_The Nazca and Laurasia-class vessels are to cut their engines. We will hand her over on the condition that we are meet only with the pilot of Aegis. If you do not meet these demands, we cannot guarantee her safety." _Kira stated.

Cassandra sat in the cockpit of the Astray Green as it walked to the catapult. _"Kira's friend is piloting the Aegis, so he won't shoot on sight." _She thought as she buckled her safety belts. _"And Mikeva would follow to make sure her friend is safe." _

"What could they be up too?" Adas asked. "If this is some kind of trick, it's a Ludacris one at that."

"They wouldn't risk the losing the Strike if it was. And they did take a shortcut through the debris field." Rau said.

"_Commander, allow me to go." _Athrun pleaded.

"Their intentions are still unknown. We haven't even confirmed if Ms. Cylne is with them!" The captain rebutted.

The masked white coat smiled. "Alright, you have permission."

"_Thank you, I appreciate it." _

"Are you sure about this?" Adas asked.

"This could also be seen as a chance for us. Bring the ship to a halt and prep my CGUE for launch Adas."

The Aegis launched from the Vesalius and flew towards the enemy machines.

"They've done this without any authorization." Coopman grit his teeth. "A noble gesture that might get them killed."

"Have all mobile prepared to intervene." Mitsukai ordered.

"_Enemy vessel engines no longer running." _

"_Aegis approaching."_

The transformable gundam stopped in front of the two NATO mobile suits as they pointed their weapons at the red machine.

"_Athrun Zala?" _Kira asked.

"_Yes that's right." _Said pilot responded.

"_Open your cockpit." _The Aegis did just that and Strike did the same.

"Say something." Kira told Lacus. "He can't see your face from here. He has to be convinced it's really you before you can leave the cockpit."

"Oh, I understand." She turned on her helmets speakers. "Hello Athrun! It's me! It's very nice to see you again." She said as she waved hello as Haro flapped its ears.

"I confirm its Lacus."

"Then prepare to receive her."

Athrun unclipped his safety belts and floated toward the opened platform of the cockpit.

"Go on." Kira helped her out and she floated towards the Aegis. Athrun held out his hand and Lacus took it. She stood on the platform as Athrun pulled her in for a hug which she returned with a smile, letting Haro float around them. Seeing this brought a smile to Mikeva's face. Lacus had told her about her fiancé who enlisted as a mobile suit pilot. When Kira said his name she was at first surprised to find out that he was one of the pilots who tried to destroy the Archangel. The two young lovers broke their hug as Lacus looked at the Minuteman Weapon.

"Thank you for everything you've done Mikeva. You too Mr. Yamato."

"_No problem."_

"Kira, you come along with us too!" Athrun exclaimed. "There isn't any reason why you should remain with NATO."

"Believe me, the last thing I want to do is fight against you." He thought about Sai, Tolle, Mir, Kuzzey, Zeke and Cassie. "But abroad that ship are people I feel obligated to protect. My friends are on that ship!"

Athrun was surprised by his outburst before smiling. "You haven't changed one bit Kira. But just know this. If you fight with NATO, then you fight people who won't hold back like me."

"I know." Kira responded as the Strike's cockpit closed. The Gundam and the Minuteman started to float away from the Aegis as Athrun and Lacus looked on, seeing their best friends depart.

"_Try to stay out of trouble Lacus." _Mikeva said. She saw her friend nod her head.

"The enemy mobile suits are withdrawing." Adas reported.

"Now start up the engines." Rau said as his CGUE launched from the catapult.

"Mobile suit launching from the Nazca-class!" An officer on the Montgomery reported. "Nazca-class is firing its engines."

"The lead Laurasia-class is also launching a mobile suit.

"Damn it! I knew this would happen." Mu said as the Zero and Astray Green were launched.

The gray machine blasted toward the NATO mobile suits. He was about to order Athrun to return to the Vesalius, but an object collided with his CGUE as his cockpit shook widely. He looked and saw the CGUE Asura holding onto him.

"Alex, what the hell are you doing?!" Rau yelled.

"_Stopping you from getting the chairman's daughter killed in a firefight!" _

"_Commander Rau Le Creuset, stop this at once!" _Lacus yelled through the Aegis' com-link. _"Are you attempting to make this place a battlefield in the presence of a memorial representative like myself? I will not permit this to happen! You are to cease any and all hostile actions immediately!" _

"What a troublesome young lady." The white coat mumbled to himself. "I understand Ms. Cylne. I apologize for my actions."

The two CGUEs turned around and flew away with the Aegis tailing them. The Zero and Astray meet up with the Strike and Minuteman.

"Not sure what just happened, but we better return too." Mu said. We don't want to stir up a hornet's nest."

"_Roger." _The mobile suit pilots responded as the NATO machines headed back to Archangel.

On the Archangel, Flay looked out the window with a sad as the mobile suits and armor returned. "Guess I won't be able to apologize now."

**Next time: The Awakening Sword**

**What will you forge in the space you burn through Gundam? **

**AN: Sorry for the late update. My internet crapped out on me.**


	11. Chapter 11

_Phase 11: The Awakening Sword_

_JOSH-A…_

A man sat in front of a computer as he typed on the keyboard. On the screen were mobile suit schematics and a series of firewalls that he was getting through with ease. When he cleared the last firewall, he plugged in a flash drive and hit enter.

_The advanced fleet, Archangel…_

Kira, Mikeva and Zeke stood at attention in the middle of the captain's office. Murrue sat behind the desk while Mu and Natarle sat on either side.

"The fact of the matter is that this three showed little regard for the consequences of their actions or the danger they put this fleet in." Natarle stated.

"But ensign, all they were doing was returning a civilian to a ship belong to her nation. I don't recall. And the Vesalius has retreated from the area to return Ms. Cylne to the PLANT Homeland, so if anything they might have bought us some time to rendezvous with the Eight Fleet." Mu retorted.

"Be that as it may, they used military equipment for unauthorized actions. If the Strike or the Minuteman had been destroyed, not only would we be down two mobile suits, but we would have also the last remaining G-Weapons in our possession."

"Now then, Kira Yamato, Mikeva Lago, Ezekiel Hudson, is there anything you would like to say in your defense?" Murrue asked the defendants. "Why did you act without permission?"

"It's simple captain. I wasn't going to let a friend of mine be used as a political hostage." Mikeva said defiantly. "I don't regret my actions one bit."

"The same goes for me." Kira followed up. "That isn't the reason why I rescued her."

"You're right. If anything you can use her as a girlfriend." Mu said with smirk. Zeke chuckled a bit.

"There is sufficient proof that the defendants actions are in violation of military law. Therefore said persons are sentenced to the death penalty." The three of them were shocked by this. "However, this sentence only complies within the presence of a court-martial. Military law contains no provisions for the sentencing of civilians. I call upon the defendants to carefully consider their actions in future. This court is now adjourned."

"In other words, from now on don't stupid things without our permission." The Zero pilot stated.

The three of them walked out of the room as Zeke let out a breath he'd been holding in.

"Hooray for loopholes." Mikeva cheered. Cassie, Sai, Mir and Haro floated towards them.

"So what happened?" Sai asked.

"We got away with a slap on the wrist." Kira said.

"If anything, we should consider ourselves lucky." Zeke said.

"Well we're meeting up with the Eight Fleet soon. So you guys won't have to deal with the fighting anymore." Cassie stated.

"In that case, I better shower. I've wanted to meet Lewis Halberton. It's actually on my bucket list." The brown-haired engineer said.

_Narita, Japan…_

Several men and woman sat in the bleachers and watched as the targets appeared from under the ground. They were GINNs taken and rebuilt from the battlefields. Four helicopters carried a large object covered in a large cloak. The wires detached and the object fell a bit before activating its hover units. The increased winds blew off the cloak and revealed a massive gray mobile armor. It hovered toward the targets while a Japanese man stood in front of the audience with a translator next to him. He gave a speech for two minutes before the translator talked.

"Representatives from NATO and the EU, as a sign of good will to our new alliance, Bushido Electronics would like to present its first state-of-the-art Mobile Armor. Its purpose is to defend bases and disable enemy units. It is armed with a series of advanced Plasma weaponry which prevents the enemy mobile suit from exploding and damaging anything around it."

The remote controlled GINNs aimed their rifles as the mobile armor landed on the ground. They opened fire as the blade-like attachments on the sides moved and caused the mobile armor to jump. The mobile armor now had the appearance of a giant crab with a cannon mounted underneath its body. It trapped a GINN between its claws and unleashed its plasma field; short-circuiting the mono-eyed machine and making it fall flat on its face. The two remaining GINNs fired as the mobile armor's legs folded back up and dodged the shots with impressive speed for such a large machine. The legs unfolded and the machine fired its plasma cannon which disabled the GINN before it refolded it legs and rammed the last GINN, crushing it under its massive frame. The audience was stunned by the mobile armor's display of power and applauded.

"For your consideration, we give you the BMA-007 Kabuto."

_The Gamow…_

Yzak, Dearka, Nicol and Zelman looked at a map that showed the Archangel, Balder, Dallas and Montgomery.

"Sure, it's possible to catch up with them before they join the fleet. But upon arriving, we would only have ten minutes before we're in firing range of the lunar fleet." Nicol explained.

"You mean we would have a full ten minutes?" Dearka replied.

"I suggest that the cowards keep their traps shut." Yzak taunted. "Are there only ten minutes or are there a full ten minutes? It's all in how you look at it really. My take on it is if we have a window of opportunity before they join their fleet, we can't pass it up."

"I couldn't agree more." The Buster pilot replied. "The success of a surprise attack isn't determined by the amount of time spent."

"It's not that I don't know that, but.."

"I understand that the Vesalius will turn around as soon as it hands Ms. Cylne to the Lacony team. We will have already taken out the legged ship and its escorts by then." The silver-haired red coat replied. "Is that clear?"

"A-Okay." Dearka replied with a thumbs up.

Nicol scowled at this. "Very well then."

The Gamow started to move towards the four ships as the Misfit tailed them. Alex and Miguel stood in the bridge.

"Do they really plan on attacking all by themselves?" Alex asked. "Even with the three G-weapons they're outnumbered."

"Yzak and Dearka have always been incredibly reckless. Nicol's probably just going along with it." Miguel replied.

"If you ask me, they're a disgrace to all red coats. They only got those ranks because their parents are on the supreme council." The Dragon of Nova said with a grunt.

"Well what our next move?" The green coat asked.

"I guess we'll make sure they don't get themselves killed." Alex said as the two of them headed for the hangar. "Besides, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to fight the green one."

"You can have her. I got dibs on the Strike." Miguel said a smirk as the two men had a good chuckle.

Athrun floated through the halls of the Vesalius as one the doors ahead of him opened.

"_Haro, Haro! Athrun!" _The pink ball yelled as it bounced off the walls. Athrun caught his creation in his hand and sighed.

"Lacus." Said girl floated toward the young pilot.

"Haro is overly excited. I guess he's happy to see you after all this time."

"Haro doesn't have any emotional component to him at all Lacus." Athrun explained as Lacus grabbed the small robot.

The two of them returned to Lacus' room as Athrun thought for a moment.

"So Mikeva is on that ship." The Aegis pilot stated. "Who would have thought that this would happen?"

"I was surprised as well. Even more so when she told me she was a mobile suit pilot." The songstress said. "She always had a fascination with the military."

"But she's joined the Allies, our enemy."

With news of the ACD joining NATO and EU in their war against ZAFT, the people of the PLANTs started calling them the Allied Forces or Allies for short.

"But she's still my friend. And you knew Mr. Yamato." Lacus frowned. "It seems that both our friends have decided to fight."

"But how Mikeva end up on the legged ship?" Athrun asked.

"She said that after ZAFT attacked Heliopolis that she entered a life pod with a bunch of other people. The pod malfunctioned but Mr. Yamato saved them and brought them onto the ship."

Athrun was shocked by this. "Lacus, were they any other people on the legged ship besides the crew?"

"Yes, they were over thirty refuges from Heliopolis. Why do you ask?"

"Stay in here, there's something I have to do." The blue-haired coordinator gave her a kiss on the check and floated out of the room.

"_So Kira wasn't lying when he said his friends were on that ship. They're probably among the refugees he rescued." _He thought as grit his teeth. _"This is NATO's fault for turning Heliopolis into a target." _

The four Allied ships flew through space as they headed for the rendezvous point.

"_The Lunar Fleet should be within range soon." _Koopman stated.

"_Can't wait. It's been non-stop peril since I first stepped on this bloody ship." _Chester said.

"_Just another thirty minutes until we're home free." _Mitsukai commented.

"Well we've somehow managed to make it this far." Murrue stated.

"We shouldn't slack off. Fleets are conspicuous and they might draw the attention of the enemy." Natartle said.

In the mess hall, the civilian volunteers were having lunch and chatting.

"We've been through a lot, but we're almost there." Kuzzey said as he ate. "You don't suppose they'll let us off anywhere on Earth do you?"

"You guys can go back to Earth, but I'm staying." Takashi stated.

"So you're serious about joining the military?" Sai asked.

"You bet! As soon as we get to the eight fleet, I'm officially enlisting as a mobile suit pilot." The tall man turned toward his fellow pilot. "What about you Mikeva?"

"I've already decided to enlist too."

"But aren't you friends with the chairman's daughter?" Kuzzey asked.

"I'm fighting ZAFT, not Lacus or the PLANTs. And NATO and the EU are only fighting because the PLANTs refuse to give up the council members that authorized Operation Ouroboros." The short woman retorted.

"She's right." Zeke said as he chewed a piece of steak. "But I don't think they'll just hand over important leaders just like that."

"Well you're from Orb, so I guess you won't be staying for long." Mikeva said. He stopped chewing and had a distant look in his eyes.

"Actually, I've been thinking about defecting for a long time." He pushed his tray back. "I've got some work to do." He left the mess hall and left the others stunned. Zeke passed Kira as he walked into the room.

"Hey Zeke." The Strike pilot greeted him only to be ignored as the older coordinator headed for the hangar. "What's up with him?" He saw the others and joined them at their table. Flay walked in shortly with her Father behind her. She looked at Kira with regret in her eyes.

"Well go on." George said with a stern voice. The red-haired girl walked toward the table as the others caught sight of her.

"Um, Kira. I want to apologize for what I said the other day. I've done and said things I'm not proud of and I hope you can forgive me."

The young pilot was surprised by this and smiled. He stood up and held out his hand. "Apology accepted."

Flay was confused by this but smiled and shook his hand.

In her room, Cassandra was writing in her journal as she wrote down the events of the past few days.

"_The Gundams continue to astonish me as the battles grow more chaotic. The Strike is capable of operating the Launcher Pack with full effectiveness, even with a damaged forearm. But Kira used the Strike to disable and destroy the weapons of the enemy ships, possibly due his pacifist nature. This might result in future dilemmas if he decides to stay on the Archangel. The Hyperion used its Lightwave Barrier to block a high-energy blast for a Nazca-class vessel, saving the Montgomery at the cost of depleting its entire battery. But the Astray Green also showed an amazing new weapon known as the Firebrand. Since it uses a detachable micro-generator it doesn't have to draw power from the mobile suit's battery while unleashing a high-powered laser capable of slicing a GINN and a Laurasia-class vessel in half. Zeke has got to be some sort of mad genius if he can invent something like that." _

The ebony-haired pilot stopped writing as her thoughts started to drift towards the Astray Green's inventor.

"_On the outside, Zeke seems like a regular technician with a goofy side. But I can't help but feel that he's keeping something to himself." _She closed her journal as the alarm started to blare.

"_All hands, level one battle stations! All hands, level one battle stations!" _

Cassie gritted her teeth as she ran towards the hangar. "So they want to take us out right before we meet up with the lunar fleet. Well I won't let them."

The three stolen Gundams flew towards the ship and activated their Phase Shift armor.

"They never give up do they?" Chester commented. "What's the enemy battle strength?"

"Heat signatures have been confirmed as Duel, Buster and Blitz with the Laurasia-class following them."

"A second Laurasia-class not far behind is launching mobile suits as well."

On the Archangel, Cassie sat in the Astray Green's hangar as she contacted the bridge. Miriallia's face appeared on the screen.

"_What is it officer Slade?" _

"I'm going to fly away from the fleet and draw their attention. Have the Strike and Hyperion follow me and keep the enemy away." Her cockpit closed and the green mobile headed for the catapult. She grabbed her Twin-Sword Rifle and Shield and clamped onto the catapult.

"Captain?" Mir asked. "Should we go with Slade's plan?"

Murrue thought for a moment. "Contact the Dallas and have them launch the Hyperion. Get the Strike ready too."

The repaired Strike Gundam clamped onto the catapult and got equipped with the Sword Striker. "Why when we're so close?" Kira asked. The red lights turned green. "Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam ready to launch!"

"_Cassandra Slade, Gundam Astray Green taking off!" _The two mobile suits launched and flew away from the ships with the Hyperion tailing them.

Miguel and Alex flew towards the enemy fleet in their personal machines.

"Looks like they're playing keep away." The red coat said. He looked at his radar and saw the stolen G-Weapons following them. "And the council boys are playing along. Miguel, we'll only join the battle if it seems like Le Creuset team will lose."

"_Roger."_

"Launch Anti-Beam depth charges!" Chester ordered as the Dallas opened the missile tubes and launched the depth charges. The projectiles exploded and formed a cloud of anti-beam particles.

"Have the Valiants at the ready!" Natarle ordered.

The six Gundams meet in battle. The Buster aimed its weapons and fired at the Astray which blocked with its shield. The Strike swung its beam sword but the Duel dodged it. The Hyperion threw two of its beam knives which the Blitz shot down before it disappeared.

"Trying to settle the score, huh?" The middle-eastern pilot closed his eyes and felt a pulse. "There!" The Hyperion turned and fired his head vulcans at an empty space. The Blitz reappeared with its PS activated as it blocked the shots.

"How did he know where I was?" Nicol asked as the Hyperion charge at him. The red & white machine activated it one of its arm-mounted emitter which ignited a light-green beam saber. The Blitz activated the beam saber on it Trikeros shield and clashed against the lighter Gundam.

The Buster combined its weapons into the anti-armor shotgun and fired, destroying the Astray's shield. The green mobile suit fired its TSR which the Buster dodged and retaliated with a few missiles that were shot down by the Astray's head vulcans.

The Strike threw its beam boomerang at the Duel. The blue mobile suit dodged the projectile but it came around and sliced off the top of one its shoulders. The Strike caught the boomerang and charge at the Duel. Yzak blocked the sword with his shield, but the heavy sword was slowly slicing through it.

"This is taking too long! Gamow, destroy the legged ship already!"

With the Dallas' powerful anti-beam depth charges still active, the ships were forced to attack with their railguns. The Archangel and Dallas were the only ships that could retaliate since the Balder and Montgomery used up their missiles in the previous battle. The two legged ships acted as shields for the older ships as one of the Gamow's railguns hit the Dallas. The ship shook as Manchester cursed.

"For god's sake, somebody shoot those ZAFT bastards down!"

The Duel pushed the Strike away and kicked the anti-ship sword out of its hands. Kira tried to grab it but was knocked back as the Duel fired its grenade.

"_Kira!" _Cassie grabbed one of the Astray's beam sabers and tossed it at the Strike. Kira pushed the foot pedals and the Strike blasted toward the saber and grabbed it, activated the blue beam. He looked at the Strike's energy bar and saw that it was at the half point. He also remembered what happened during the battle outside of Artemis. An idea came to the young coordinator's head. "Well it's pretty much useless at this point." He pressed the button and the Strike's PSA turned off as the armor turned back to its basic gray color.

"He turned off his phase shift?" Yzak asked as he fired on the Strike. The now gray mobile suit charged at the Duel and swung. The Duel dodged the attack by jetting away. "Damn!" The Duel activated both of its beam sabers and swung as the Strike blocked with its own saber. Yzak activated the head vulcans, damaging the gray machine and taking out one of its eyes. As the blades clashed and the cockpit shook, Kira typed as fast he could on the Strike's keyboard. He hit the enter key and pulled the trigger for his head vulcans, pushing the Duel back. The NATO suit grabbed the beam boomerang but didn't through it. Instead, the beam extended until it was the size of a saber. The Strike held its two weapons at its sides before it charged while Kira gripped his controls. "If you want to destroy the Archangel, you'll have to through me!"

The Strike blasted towards the Duel as Ysak pulled out his own beam sabers. "Bring it on!" The two G-Weapons clashed in fury of frozen plasma and backed away. The Duel grabbed its beam rifle and aimed at the Strike only for it to be destroyed by the gray gundam's CIWS. Kira saw the beam sword floated above the Duel. He charged at his opponent and threw the beam boomerang. Yzak knocked it away with his shield as The Strike grabbed the sword with its rocket anchor. With its main weapon back, the Strike charged at the Duel and sliced its arms off before he could react.

"What the hell?!" Yzak yelled. An alarm blared as his radar showed several ships comings towards the battlefield. "We're out of time. Nicol, Dearka! The fleet's here! We have to retreat!" The Duel blasted back to the Gamow as the other stolen Gundams broke off from their respective fights and retreated.

"Looks like they're not as dumb as I thought." Alex commented.

Kira let out a sigh of relief as he placed the sword on his back. Gaius and Cassandra appeared on his screens.

"_Kira, that was awesome!" _Cassie exclaimed.

"_Way to improvise kid." _Gaius said with a thumbs up.

"Thanks. But it was nothing really." Kira said as he sheepishly rubbed his head.

"_The main fleet is here." _One of the officers said. The three Gundams turned and saw several lights in the distance. The fleet consisted of five Drake-class escorts, four Nelson-class battleships and one Agamemnon-class flagship. This was the Menelaos, the personal ship of one Lewis Halberton.

**Next Time: Decision**

**Will you rise again in a new battlefield Gundam?**


	12. Chapter 12

**AU: Seriously, not even one review last chapter? Come on guys! Either way, this chapter is where the big divergence from the original SEED story take place. The dessert arc will take place in the future, just differently. Also I've decided on the opening & ending themes for this story. **

**Opening 1: Believe in my Existence by JAM Project**  
**Ending 1: Metamorphoze by Gackt**

**Without further or due, let's get this show on the road!**

_Phase 12: Decisions_

_The debris field, Yggdrasil..._

Nestled in the collection of old ships and satellites was the first testament to mankind's unbreakable will. (For an image, think of the _Horizon _from season 3 of _Archer) _While the public at large believed it to be destroyed by terrorists, the international space station Yggdrasil was actually relocated for security reasons. Several shuttles were docked in as a meeting was taking place. Over fifty people of various ethnicities sat at round table as they conversed with each other. A man walked into the room. Despite being in his twenties, his gray eyes showed great wisdom. He wore a brown business suit with a black tie that complemented his dark blue hair. On his collar was a pin of the NATO symbol. (Voice: Roger Craig Smith)

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is David Hickman. Now let's get this meeting underway."

_The Vesalius..._

"It is unfortunate that I have to depart so soon." Lacus said as Athrun escorted her to a shuttle.

"Everyone is worried about you at the PLANTS." Athrun stated. The two of the floated down to the shuttle were Rau and some other soldiers stood saluting.

"Thank you for all you've done during my stay here Commander Le Creuset."

"Lacony has assured me that he will personally see to your safety." The white coat replied.

"Will the Vesalius be back in time for the memorial services?" The songstress asked.

"I really can't say with any certainty."

The pink-haired idol frowned at this. "I know military achievements are important, but please do not forget the victims, those who lost their lives."

"You have my word." Rau said with a smile. Lacus turned toward Athrun and gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing both of the teens to blush. The two of them smiled at each other as Lacus and Haro boarded the ship.

"Until we meet again Athrun."

"I'll look forward to it." The Aegis pilot said with a salute.

A few minutes later, the engines blared as the shuttle flew through the opened hatch and headed for the PLANTs. Athrun and Rau watched as the shuttle reached the Laurasia-class belonging to Lacony.

"Did you hear what happened to the Duel?" Rau asked.

"If I recall correctly, its arms were destroyed when Yzak, Dearka and Nicol attacked the enemy fleet." Athrun responded.

"It was the Strike that damaged Yzak's machine. The deactivated his Phase Shift Armor to conserve power. He must have realized how pointless the armor against enemies with beam weaponry." The masked man turned towards the pilot. "Either this Kira Yamato is becoming an excellent pilot or he's just incredible lucky. For all we know it may be both."

Athrun frowned, knowing where this conversation was heading.

"So which is it? Will you shoot him or be shot down?" Rau pushed off the wall and headed elsewhere. The blue-haired coordinator stared into space as memories flashed in his mind.

_"You think you're the only one who's ever lost something you racist prick!? The war is between NATO and ZAFT! Race has nothing to do with it!". _

_"Believe me, the last thing I want to do is fight against you. But aboard that ship are people I feel obligated to protect. My friends are on that ship!"_

_"She said that after ZAFT attacked Heliopolis that she entered a life pod with a bunch of other people. The pod malfunctioned but Mr. Yamato saved them and brought them onto the ship."_

"This sucks." Athrun said as he headed toward his room.

_The 8th Fleet..._

The infamous 8th fleet floated with the Earth underneath them. The Archangel, Balder, Dallas and Montgomery turned a full 180 degrees and moved next to the Menelaos.

"Is this really a good idea for us to cruise alongside the Menelaos?" Jackie asked.

"Admiral Halberton most likely wants to get a look at the ship. He has informed us that later on he will be paying us a personal visit. As you may know, he was the biggest supporter of the development project that produced this ship and the G-Weapons." Murrue stated.

"Which in turn gave Weston Industries the inspiration for the Dallas and the Hyperion." Chester said.

In the halls, civilians were talking about finally getting off the Archangel and returning to their homes. Kuzzey was telling the other volunteers about how the civilians would be transferred to the Menelaos which would deploy a shuttle that would descend to Earth.

"I wonder what's going to happen to us?" Kuzzey asked.

"Of course we're disembarking too." Miriallia replied. "We may be wearing these uniforms, but underneath we're still civilians."

"You guys can go home, but I'm staying." Takashi said. "In fact, I'm going to see if Lieutenant La Flaga will give me a recommendation."

"Like I said, I'm staying too." Mikeva said. "Someone has to keep an eye on this knucklehead."

"Hey!" The taller pilot yelled.

Flay had distant look in her eyes as she thought about the previous week. More specifically, when she felt useless as the Montgomery was under fire.

"Please hold the fort while I'm gone." Murrue said as she headed for the elevator. Natarle rounded the corner and approached her.

"Captain!" The two of them entered the elevator as it closed and started going down. "Its about the Strike and the Astray Captain. Do you have any plans for them?"

The brown-haired officer was confused by this. "What plans? What are you getting at?"

"Everyone on this ship knows it. We were only able to make it this far because the incredible capabilities of the mobile suits and because he was piloting one of them. Are you letting him go too?"

"The Astray is property of the Orb Union. I had planned on having Warrant Officer Slade transfer to the Strike after Kira and others had departed." Murrue stated as the elevator stopped and opened. The two women existed the elevator and headed for the hangar.

"You'd let Slade pilot one of the last remaining G-Weapons in our possession? She threatened the entire fleet with her actions regarding Ms. Cylne. If anything, she should be brought up on disciplinary charges."

"Is that your professional opinion Ensign Badgiruel? Cause it sounds to me like you're holding a personal grudge." Murrue retorted as Natarle scowled. "I know Cassandra can be temperamental, but she's also an excellent pilot and a loyal officer through and through. As for Kira Yamato, he is not a soldier of NATO, the EU or the ACD."

"I know, but his abilities are invaluable to us. We cannot afford to lose them."

"Regardless what potential he might bring to the military, we cannot force him to volunteer."

_Yggdrasil..._

"As many of you know, it has a been one year since the leaders of the now defunct United Nations were killed at Copernicus. The resulting confusion created a series of events leading up to the current war." David said as he addressed the representatives. "With the recent energy crisis and the lack of international cooperation, the Earth Sphere has entered one of its most trying years."

"Isn't it enough that we are contributing to the war against ZAFT?" The Afghanistan rep asked.

"While the war is a major issue, we should also be focusing on finding a way to solve the energy crisis." The United Kingdom rep stated.

"What is the deadline?" The rep from Kuwait asked.

"We are hoping to find a solution within the next few months." The Canadian representative said. The representatives then started to talk amongst themselves.

_Archangel..._

The mechanics worked on the the mobile suits and mobile armor as fast as they could. Two mechanics attached another micro-generator to the Astray Green's Firebrand as Zeke sat in the cockpit.

"_Micro-Generator locked in. Firebrand fully functional." _Haro said.

"Thanks Haro." Zeke said as he typed on the keyboard.

"Why I am not surprised?" Zeke looked and saw Cassandra looking down at him. "You spend more time tuning the Astray than anything else."

"Well it is my pride and joy." The engineer said.

"You know, the civilians are being transferred to the Menelaos. I guess they can give you a transport for the Astray."

"That won't be necessary."

"How come? Can this suit survive atmospheric re-entry?"

"No, I'm trying to figure something out for that. But I meant it won't be necessary because I'm staying."

"Huh?" Cassie asked. "What do mean?"

"I mean I'm going to join NATO." Zeke said as he put away the keyboard.

"But you're from Orb? I thought you guys were all about peace and neutrality."

Zeke looked down as he thought about his home country. "To be honest, I never accepted Orb's ideals as my own. Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations. That's the motto Uzumi has shoved down everyone's throat." He looked at the display screen that showed the status of the Firebrand. "Ever since I was a kid, all wanted to do was build weapons. Everyone saw me as a freak and an iron monger who craves war. In the land of peace I seemed like the only one who saw those speeches for what they were. The opinion of a man who can't accept the world for what it is and only sees what he wants to. When I was scouted by Morgenroete for the G-Weapon project, I was stoked. I thought, "All right, Orb's finally taking a stand!" But instead I learned these weapons would be sold to NATO and we would only get a big fat check. And the Astray project would just be used to defend Orb if it was attacked."

"But wouldn't that be good if Orb had some way to defend itself?"

"Against what? Orb is neutral in the conflict. When the N-Jammers fell, we didn't even feel it. We've never even been attacked by terrorists since the founding. The sad fact is that if I return to Orb, the Astray Green will used for data collection and left to collect dust." Zeke looked Cassie in the eyes with admiration. "But in your hands the Astray can make a difference. You've pushed this suit beyond what I thought possible. Even if it's just a small difference, I'll be able to look back and be proud that I could help bring down Blue Cosmos and ZAFT."

The ebony-haired pilot was astonished by the confidence in his voice. _"I guess that's what he's been hiding." _Cassie smiled as she held out her hand. "Well then you better go sign up." Zeke smiled as the two shook hands.

"_Here to stay! Here to stay!" _Haro exclaimed, bring the two of them to laugh at the little robots excitement.

In the other part of the hangar, Kira stuck his head out of the Zero's cockpit, surprising Lieutenant La Flaga who was leisurely floating.

"We've already hooked up with the fleet, so would someone tell me why we're in a rush?"

"I don't feel secure while the Zero's still damaged." Mu explained.

"You just want to make sure you're not left out in case something happens." Murdoch commented. "The 8th fleet is the pride of the NATO space forces, even Le Creuset wouldn't take us on without his own fleet."

"I'll have to agree with you on that." The Zero said with a thumbs-up.

"Okay, but what about the Strike? Is it really okay if we leave it as is?"

"Good point. Never really thought of that. But I'm not so sure we should return it to its original state since that would reduce its performance."

"Well then, let's hope we can get someone to pilot it as is." The three men turned and saw Lieutenant Ramius floating towards them.

"Um, captain?"

"What's this? To what do we owe the honor?" Mu said jokingly.

"Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to have a chat with Kira."

Said coordinator scowled at the captain. "Oh don't give me that suspicious look of yours. Although I can't really say that I blame you."

_George Alister's quarters... _

The vice-minister was combining his hair as he prepared to depart. The doors opened as his daughter walked in. "Flay, glad you're here. You should get packed; we're transferring to the Menaloes."

Flay looked at her father before she spoke. "I'm not coming with you Dad."

"What do mean?"

"I want... I want to join the Allied Forces."

"What?! Flay if this is a joke it's not funny!" George exclaimed.

"I'm not joking."

"But what reason would you have to join the military?"

"Look it's not like I'm saying for the fun of it. I've been thinking about this since ZAFT attacked the advanced fleet. I saw the Law destroyed with my own eyes. I also remembered when Heliopolis was attacked and how horrifying it was. It wasn't like the images I saw in the news. All those soldiers and pilots died while I could nothing to stop it. But when we met up with the lunar fleet and I realized I can finally land safely on Earth, I couldn't help but feeling uneasy about something."

"Uneasy?"

"Tell me father, should we allow ourselves to feel safe? Will we finally be able to live in peace? I don't see how it's possible with a war still being fought on Earth and in space! The truth is I never gave the matter much thought while I was living in neutral territory."

"But this is why I sent you to Heliopolis! So you wouldn't get involved in the war!"

"Because I'm a coordinator, right?" The minister's eyes widened at this.

"How did.."

"I've been sick a day in life and I've brushed off injuries that would knock out a normal person. Is that why you sent me away?"

George thought for a moment before he sighed. "ZAFT enlists coordinator soldiers at such a young age. I know NATO has a preferred age for enlistment, but still I hoped that you wouldn't get involved in the war. You're my little girl after all." The vice-minister's eyes started to water.

"Daddy." Flay said she hugged her father.

"But if this is what you think is right, then I'll support you." George said as hugged his daughter.  
Murrue and Kira stood in front of the Strike. "I've hardly had a free moment so I could never find the time to have a meaningful one-on-one with you. Well, I just wanted to thank you properly this time."  
Kira was surprised by this as the captain keep talking.

"I'm well aware that I put you through a great deal of hardship and I'm truly greatly for what you've done for us. I put a lot on your soldiers. I can't thank you enough."

"Um... It's alright. Really captain." Kira said, embarrassed by the praise.

"The others may not actually say it, but each of us is deeply grateful. The way things are going right now, I imagine things will be hectic even on Earth. But best of luck." Murrue said as she held her hand out. Kira smiled and shook her hand.

_The Dallas, medical wing..._

Gaius sat on one of the hospital beds with a cybernetic helmet on his head. Several wires stuck out of the helmet and were attached to a monitor which Sosuke watched.

"This is so boring." Gaius said. "Couldn't you have gotten Chester to be your guinea pig?"

"He left for the Archangel fourty minutes ago. I'm guessing he wants to meet Admiral Halberton." The doctor replied.

"So instead of meeting a war hero, I get stuck as research material. This is definitely not what I had in mind when I enlisted."

"This research is..."

"Ya, ya. Benefit for humanity and all that shit."

_Orb, Shopping district..._

The sun started to set as people continued to shop. Two siblings started to walk towards the bus stop.

The older brother had black hair and red eyes while the younger sister had brown hair and blue eyes.

The brother carried two shopping bags in each arm while the sister only carried one.

"Is all of this really necessary?" The brother asked.

"Mom and Dad said it was my reward of getting all A's this semester." The sister replied. "And I you have look after me since you got into another fight."

"Ya, ya."

"Oh cheer up Shinn. At least you bought that game you wanted."

"I guess you're right." The boy now known as Shinn said with a smile.

Without warning, the bus exploded in a fury of red and yellow. The siblings were knocked back by the force of the blast. Shinn recuperate and saw his sister starting to stand up. "Mayu!" He grabbed Mayu and held her in a protective embrace.

"Shinn? What happened?"

Shinn looked and saw the remains of the bus and the burned body parts of the victims. "This... this is..."

Several people looked at the blast zone with fear and confusion.

"Terrorists! This is a terrorist attack!"

"That's impossible!"

"Why is this happening?"

For the first time since the founding of the Orb Union, a terrorist attack has occurred.

_The 8th fleet..._

A shuttle launched from the Menelaos and docked onto the Archangel. In few minutes later, all of the crew stood in attention as the shuttle door opened. The man who stepped out had blond hair with a mustache of the same color and an authoritative air about him. This was Admiral Lewis Halberton, commander of the 8th Fleet. Murrue, Natarle, Mu, Liz, Chester, Koopman and Mitsukai saluted the man.

"You know, when I first heard of the collapse of Heliopolis, I was convinced that was the end." Lewis said as he approached Murrue. "What a joy it is to see you people here."

"You do us a tremendous honor. It's a pleasure to see you again sir." Murrue saluted with a smile. The admiral saluted back.

"I was a bit worried when informed that you were engaged in a battle earlier. Is everyone alright?" Lewis said as he looked around as his eyes stopped on the commanding officers.

"Ensign Natarle Badgiruel."

"Lt. Junior Grade Mitsukai Nagasawa."

"Lt. Junior Grade Anthony Koopman."

"Lieutenant Manchester Black."

"Lieutenant Elizabeth Wallace."

"Lieutenant Mu La Flaga."

"At least we had experienced officers handling this crisis." The blond man stated as he turned his attention to the volunteers and Morgenroete factory workers who stood with the pilots. "And who do we have over here?"

"Sir, these are the volunteers from Heliopolis and the pilots that survived all of our battles. They played a major part in our survival." Murrue explained.

Lewis floated towards the volunteers and looked them over. "We've done some checking on the families of each one of you and everyone is safe." The students were relieved by this news. "We'd like to extend our gratitude for your assistance during this crisis. You have my thanks as well." He turned to the pilots.

"And to you, the pilots who fought against great odds to make it this far, the commanders down in JOSH-A would like thanks for your valiant efforts. As your reward, each one of you will receive a one rank promotion." The soldiers cheered as they talk and congratulated each other. Zeke, Mikeva and Takashi stepped forward.

"And who are you three?"

"Ezekiel Hudson. I'm the creator of the Gundam Astray Green. These two are Mikeva Lago and Takashi Ikari, the volunteers who piloted the spare Minutemen. We would like to officially enlist with the Allied Forces."

Lewis smiled at this. "Well just report to one of the officers on the Menelaos and they'll give you the proper enlistment forms. Now if you'll excuse me, the officers and I have some things to discuss." The admiral left the room as the commanding officers followed.

"So you guys are here to say." The now Ensign Luke O'hara commented.

"You bet." Takashi said with a thumbs-up.

"And congrats on the promotion." Mikeva said.

"We were just doing our jobs." Gale responded.

"Are you kidding? This is awesome!" Cassie exclaimed. She looked at Zeke with a smile. "Speaking of which, I was wondering if we can change the name of the Gundam. Astray Green doesn't roll off the tongue was well as Strike or Hyperion. "

Zeke gave a mock salute. "Just leave it to me Ensign Slade."

_The Vesalius, Misfit and Gamow..._

Rau read the new orders that arrived for the supreme council. Since the Le Creuset and Asura teams were outnumbered ten-to-one against the 8th fleet, they were to report to Boaz and await further orders.

"It seems that the council has given up on trying to destroy the legged ship." The masked man stated.

"Even if the Lacony team were to return, we'd still be outmatched." Adas followed. "But why do you think we're being sent to Boaz?"

"_If I had to guess, now the ACD has access to mobile suits, they might try to retake Boaz. It was originally their resource station."_ Alex said from the Misfit.

"We can't be sure until we get there. Plot a course for Boaz." Rau ordered.

As the ships headed for Lagrange 3, Yzak looked up at the Duel as the technicians worked on its arms.

"Damn Strike. Next time we met, I will kill you."

Miguel was having a conversation with Athrun via video monitor. "So what you're saying is that we destroyed the Archangel, then all those civilians would be dead."

"_I know. I'm still trying to grasp how we came to that conclusion." _Athrun said. _"But the 8th fleet will probably send the civilians back to Earth, so have to worry about that anymore." _  
"What about your friend Kira?" The green coat asked.

"_He'll go with his friends. He was only fighting to protect them, so he has no reason to remain with the Allies."_

"It's a shame he won't join ZAFT. He was pretty good for a rookie."

_The Archangel, Captain's office..._

"How could they resort such extreme measures as destroying Heliopolis all for the sake of this lone ship and a single G-Machine?" Halberton's XO asked.

"Three words." Chester said with three fingers to emphasize. "Rau Le Creuset. That wanker is crazier than the Joker and the Governor combined."

"Nonetheless, the fact that you managed to protect the Strike and this ship can be counted as a significant victory for us." Halberton stated. "It seems that the top brass agrees with us." We pulled out a folder with orders.

"What is that?" Wallace asked. Lewis opened up the folder and started to read the declaration.

"The pilots and crew of the Archangel, Balder, Dallas and Montgomery have shown valor, honor, and a will to survive that has led them to triumph over great peril. The security council of JOSH-A recognizes the skills they possess and thus we have only this to say. From now on, The 8th fleet and the four warships will act as the first official mobile suit corps of the Allied Forces and will carry on mission assigned directly from headquarters. Admiral Lewis Halberton will be appointed as commanding officer with the ship captains as advisors. The name of this unit will be decided by the officers themselves."

"So basically, we're the top brass' go to guys." Mu said with pride in his voice.

"Correct Lieutenant La Flaga." Halberton said. "And with the Strike in our hands, we can finally get the G-Project back on track."

Kira walked through the halls in his civilian clothing with Birdy on his shoulders. He saw the refugees entering the transport. He looked around and tried to find his friends. "Kira!" The young coordinator turned and saw his friends with Cassie in her white officer uniform and Flay in the women's uniform. George Allster was also with them.

"Finally. I couldn't find you guys anywhere."

"This is for you." Tolle said as he handed Kira a rolled-up piece of paper. "Its your discharge papers."

"I'm afraid you're going alone." Sai said. 'We've all decided to remain here." Kira stared at them with confusion.

"You too, Flay?"

The red-haired girl nodded. "I want to help anyway I can. Even if it's just a little bit."

"Funny. Zeke said the same thing." Cassie commented. She put her hand on Kira's unoccupied shoulder.

"Well, it's been a blast Kira. Good luck wherever you go."

George and Flay hugged one last time as they said their goodbyes. "Be safe."

"I'll try dad." Flay said. George entered the shuttle as Kira looked at his discharge papers. He thought about all of the experiences he had during the past two months. He remembered Flay reuniting with her dad, Murrue's departing words and the advice Mu gave him before they made a run for Artemis.

"_Kira, you have the power to make a difference don't you? So why not put it to good use?" _

With his mind made up, Kira ripped his discharge paper in half, surprising his friends. "If you guys are staying, then so am I."

"Are you sure Kira?" Miriallia asked.

"I'm sure." He said with a nod. "I can't exactly go back to ignoring the war like before. The attack on Heliopolis shows that this war affects everyone in the Earth Sphere, not just the sides fighting. I don't want anyone else to go through what we did." He smiled at all of his friends. "Besides, Orb would be boring without you guys there with me."

"You got that right." Tolle said as everyone had a good laugh. The shuttle door closed as the group existed the hangar. The civilian shuttle took off and headed for the Earth.

In the cockpit of the Astray Green, Zeke was adjusting the operating system in his customized uniform. He wore the same one that Murdoch wore with the orange replaced by dark green and his black t-shirt underneath. His sleeves were rolled up like Murdoch's and he wore his fingerless gloves. He looked at the operating system that showed the Gundam's name.

"So we're all in favor on the name?" Lewis asked. The captains and mobile armor pilots nodded. "This is a nod to your old team isn't it?"

"I would like to think that we'd be honoring the friends we lost at Endymion." Mitsukai stated.

"I couldn't agree more." Lewis said as he stood up. "From now on, will operate as the 1st Mobile Suit Corps. Codename: Mjolnir."

Zeke hit the back button and deleted the name "Astray Green." He thought for a moment and finally thought of something. He typed in the new name for the green and white mobile suit:

"**Valiant Gundam" **

**Next time: The Stars in Space**

**Blaze a new trail Gundam! **

**Thanks for reading! Please read and review! See ya next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Hey guys! To make up for lost time, I've decided to show you the schematics for the Allies terrestrial mobile weapons. Here they are:**

******Mobile Unit: NMS-063G Minuteman Guepard**

**Unit Type: Mass Production High Mobility Ground Mobile Suit**

**Manufacturer: Weston Industries**

**Operators: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European Union, Asian Cooperation Dialogue**

**Known Pilots: Many**

**Height: 18.5 meters**

**Max Weight: 60.2 metric tons**

**Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery**

**Accommodations: Pilot only, cockpit in torso**

**Armor: Unknown**

**Special Equipment and Design Features: Sensors, High Speed Hovering Thrusters, 2x wrist-mounted rocket anchors**

**Fixed Armament: 1x Heat Saber, Shield**

**Optional Armament: 90mm Machine Gun, Giant Bazooka, Flamethrower**

**Technical and Historical Notes: As ZAFT started to deploy mobile suits like the BuCUe and DINN in the earth-bound battles, the Allies found themselves in need of environmental weapons of their own. One of these was the Minuteman Guepard. The high-powered verniers on its legs give the Guepard the ability to match a BuCUE by hovering at high-speeds. However, because of the bulk, these units sometimes have trouble with making sudden turns. To compensate, Weston equipped them with a rocket anchor on both arms. The Guepard can be equipped with a standard set of weaponry and a Flamethrower for environments such as the icy tundra of Alaska and the jungles of the Amazon.**

**Appearance: Looks like the DT-6800HM Daughtress High Mobility with the Giant Bazooka from the RMS-009 Septem.**

**Colors: Brown and Yellow (Basic and Desert Colors), Dark Green and Black (Jungle colors), White and gray (Snow Colors)**

**Mobile Unit: NMS-063R Minuteman Raptor**

**Unit Type: Mass Production Aerial Mobile Suit**

**Manufacturer: Weston Industries**

**Operators: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European Union, Asian Cooperation Dialogue**

**Known Pilots: Many**

**Height: 18.5 meters**

**Max Weight: 58.8 metric tons**

**Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery**

**Accommodations: Pilot only, cockpit in torso**

**Armor: Unknown**

**Special Equipment and Design Features: Sensors, Flight Pack, Optional Fuel Tank**

**Fixed Armament: 2x Heat Knifes, Shield, 2x Split Missiles mounted on Flight Pack**

**Optional Armament: 90mm Machine Gun**

**Technical and Historical Notes: Needing an aerial unit to fight with the Spearheads, Weston creates the Minuteman Raptor by slapping on a Flight Pack. The Pack can mount two split missiles based on the tactical Jericho warheads and a fuel tank for traveling long distances. While not as fast as the DINN, the Raptor has the advantage in close-combat thanks to its heat knifes. The Flight Pack would also lay the foundation for the Jet Striker.**

**Appearance: Looks like the DT-6800F Daughtress Flyer.**

**Colors: Cobalt with grey limbs and dark red on the cockpit.**

******Mobile Unit: UMS-060 Swordfish**

**Unit Type: Mass Production Amphibious Mobile Suit**

**Manufacturer: Weston Industries**

**Operators: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European Union, Asian Cooperation Dialogue**

**Known Pilots: Many**

**Height: 18.5 meters**

**Max Weight: 58.8 metric tons**

**Power Plant: Ultra-compact Energy Battery**

**Accommodations: Pilot only, cockpit in torso**

**Armor: Unknown**

**Special Equipment and Design Features: Sensors, EL System, Extendable Arms**

**Fixed Armament: 4x Torpedo Launchers, Mines, 2x Linear Guns**

**Technical and Historical Notes: Using observation data from ZAFT aquatic mobile suits, Weston designs its own water-use mobile suit. The Swordfish is equipped with an advanced radio system that works like a dolphin's echolocation. Its arms can expand a great length and plant mines on ships and submarines. Overall, the Swordfish makes its mark as one of the most advanced amphibious mobile weapons if its time.**

**Appearance: Looks like the DTM-7000 Daughseat.**

**Colors: Deep Blue**

******Hope you like them! Now on with the show!**

_Phase 13: The Stars in Space_

_CE 70, Endymion_

_The final battle of the Grimaldi Front was in full swing. Drake and Nelson ships traded fire with the Laurasia and Nazca vessels. Minutemen and GINN fought all over the lunar surface with the ferocity and determination only seen during times of war. One Minuteman fired its shot lancers at a GINN but the one-eyed machine shot it down with its leg-mounted missiles before shooting its enemy down with its recoilless rifle. Another Minuteman aimed its rail cannon and blasted a GINN right through the torso. Another Minuteman sliced the bridge of Nazca-class with its heat saber before it was destroyed by the ship's CIWS. _

_A Moebius Zero launched its gunbarrels and opened fire on a GINN. With the enemy suit destroyed, the pilot headed to the next fight. "And that makes two." Mu La Flaga said with confidence. "Winters, how are things on your end?" All he heard was static and yelling. "Winters?" He felt a pulse in his head as his eyes widened. "Damn it! Balder, Winters is down!" _

"_What? Who took him out?" Mitsukai asked. _

_"I don't know, but I'll make them regret it!" Mu headed off as GINN followed his tail and aimed. However, two gunbarrels appeared and blasted right through it before retracting back to a green Zero. The green mobile armor flew caught up to its orange brother. _

_"Careful La Flaga. That one almost got you." The female pilot said. _

_"Thanks for the save Lindgreen." Mu replied as both the pilots felt a sudden pulse before dodging a stream of bullets. The culprit was a white GINN High Maneuver Type. _

_"That must be the experimental unit we heard about." Lindgreen commented. _

_"Who cares? Let's just take him down!" Eight gunbarrels moved into position and opened fire. But much to their surprise, the new enemy dodged the electrically charged blasts with astonishing grace and speed. Suddenly, they heard laughter coming from the enemy unit. _

_"Is this really the best NATO has to offer? I'm insulted!" The mobile suit blasted towards Lindgreen's Zero and stabbed the cockpit before she react. _

_"Lindgreen!" Mu yelled as he fired on the machine, which got behind the green Zero and used it as a shield. More linear blasts came from another direction as a blue Zero flew towards the battle. _

_"You monster! You killed Winters!" _

_"So share his fate!" The white GINN rolled past the shots and got in close as he fired his file at the Zero, killing the pilot._

_"Kane!" The last pilot grit his teeth as he fired his nose mounted gun and hit the enemy's shoulder. _

_"You won't stop me! NATO will pay for their sins!" _

_"Who the hell are you?" _

_"I am the one who will punish the wicked! The destroyer of the evil that disports this world!" The two machines shot at each other and dodged. _

_"Quit spouting this crap you fucking psycho!" _

_One of the gunbarrels shot one of the legs off. _

_"I am Rau Le Creuset! You should do to well to remember that for the last moments of your life!" The two opponents charged at each other. _

"AHH!" Mu yelled as he woke up. He looked around and saw that he was in his room on the Archangel. He also saw that it was one in the morning. "Damn it." The last of the original Zero pilots cursed. Since he knew going back to sleep was pointless, he opted for a midnight stroll around the ship.

Zeke was working on the Astray Green, now rechristened as the Valiant Gundam. Cassandra had shown him some weapon designs she came up and the brown mechanic had been working around the clock. What he was currently working on were the legs of the Valiant. Murdoch floated by him as he looked over the schematics.

"I get that you to make this thing better, but it's already got an anti-ship weapon integrated in its arm. What more can you do?"

"We're headed to moon, so we have to deal with the lunar gravity well. And with most of our mobile weapons outfitted for space combat, I'd figure we'd give them a little tune-up." The younger mechanic replied.

"I still do see how increasing the thruster rate will help if we're attacking a space-fleet."

"Well my always says it's better to be overly prepared then not prepared at all."

"_Prepared! Prepared!" _Haro yelled.

On the bridge, Murrue checked over the ships currently following. Their force currently consisted of the Archangel, the Balder, three more Drake-class ships and two Nelsons, one of them being the Montgomery. The brown-haired captain keep looking over the weapon count as she remembered the meeting a few hours ago.

_Six hours ago…_

_The ships of the 8__th__ fleet flew in formation as Halberton addressed them. _

"_Approximately seven minutes ago, Daedalus reported a fleet launching from the ZAFT base Jachin Due. Their projected course takes them straight towards Lunar HQ. High Command has assigned our unit the task of intercepting the enemy fleet. This is the first official mission of the Mjolnir Corps. Let's make it a success." _

Safe to say, Halberton got the entire fleet pumped up for their first real mission. While the skirmishes from Heliopolis to Artemis were challenging, Murrue found comfort in the fact that this time, they would be the ones attacking ZAFT.

_Boaz…_

Yzak watched from a distance as the technicians repaired and upgraded the Duel. He remembered his fights with the Strike. During their first encounter outside of Artemis, Yzak almost destroyed the Strike but ended up losing his machine's arm. In their second encounter, the Strike pilot surprised him by turning off his Phase-Shift Armor and then managed to slice off the Duel's legs.

But what really got under his skin was the debriefing Alex Gables gave him and the rest of the Le Creuset team.

"_You guys are a disgrace!" Alex said as the four red-coats were lined up in front of him. "Your little solo attack was by far the most poorly though out, reckless and idiotic excuse of a strategy I've ever seen! And I've fought in the Gravity Well!" _

"_What gives you the right to insult us?" Dearka asked. "We're the same rank." _

_The Dragon of Nova's response was a laugh that got the four of them off guard. "You guys aren't real red coats. The only reason you're wearing those uniforms is because your parents are on the Supreme Council."_

Those words resonated in Yzak's mind. After basic training, they were made red coats almost immediately. And maybe he was right.

"_All personnel report to meeting room 3B. All personnel report to meeting room 3B." _

"About time something happened." Yzak said as he ran towards the meeting room.

_The Moon, 85 miles outside of Daedalus…_

Twelve Laurasia-class ships and three Nazca-class ships flew at cruising speed. Unbeknownst to them, ten Minutemen Weapons stood in waiting. The lead pilot looked at his radar as his Mobile suit's eyes blinked three times.

"All units, open fire!" A barrage of rockets, missiles and rail blasts impacted with the ships in front of the fleet. Three ships in rear opened their catapults and the GINNs flew down towards the NATO mobile suits.

Three of the fourteen GINNs launched crashed onto the lunar surface due to the sudden gravity change. The nine remaining GINNs fired at the Minuteman taking out two of them in the initial barrage. The two groups opened fire on each other as the captain of the lead Nazca-class surveyed the situation.

"Why would NATO send such a small squad of mobile suits to intercept us?" The captain asked.

"High-Energy readings detected! They headed right for us!" A radar officer yelled as two large anti-matter blasts pierced clear through the whole of two Laurasia-class ships. The screen showed the Archangel and its escort ships. "It's the legged ship! Launch all mobile suits!"

On the Archangel, the Strike and Valiant were loaded onto the catapults. The Strike was equipped with its Launcher Pack while the Valiant grabbed a hyper bazooka.

"Kira Yamato, let's do this!"

"Cassandra Slade, heading out!"

The two gundams launched as the lights turned green. Soon they were followed by their teammates in their Minuteman units and the Zero.

"Deploy Icarus." Wallace ordered as the Icarus units detached from the Balder and blasted off into battle.

Kira stopped as five GINNs heading for them. He grabbed the beam submachine gun he added to the Strike and fired, taking out the optics of one GINN as Mikeva finished it off with her beam saber.

Cassie blocked the shots from a GINN as Luke and Gale fired at it from both sides.

"Spilt into teams and take out the ships first." Mu ordered. "If any mobile suits get in the way, take care of them."

"Roger." Kira, Mikeva and Takashi headed east, Luke and Gale headed north, Cassandra and Mu headed south and the Icarus team headed west.

The Icarus team spotted on of the Nazca-class ships and targeted it. "Light them up!" The four mobile armors unleashed their missiles which impacted with the blue ship. They headed in to finish it off, firing their gatling guns while dodging the enemies' CIWS. Despite the maneuvers, some of the shots hit one of Icarus units, but the machine still flew as made a turn and fired on the engines.

Mu launched his gunbarrels ahead of the Valiant and the Zero, providing some cover fire as the GINNs dodged the shots. Cassie joined in and grabbed a beam saber, blasting forward and stabbing one of mobile suits in the chest. She drew back her saber as she aimed her hyper bazooka at a Laurausia-class. She fired on the bridge, leaving the ship dead.

The Strike and the Minuteman Weapons approached a Laurasia-class in formation and opened fire. Takashi fired his 500mm cannon, Mikeva unleashed a barrage of missiles and beam bullets while Kira fired his Agni cannon. The hull of the ZAFT frigate was bombarded with explosive shell, missiles, beam bullets and finally blasted away by a large red blast.

"Wow." One of the Minuteman pilots on the surface said. A rocket whizzed past her as she snapped into reality. There were only four Minuteman units left after the GINNs dived in. One actually tried to get in close with sword and was promptly met with a heat saber slashing its waist. The Minuteman barely had time to celebrate as a rocket pierced his chest.

_Boaz…_

Yzak entered the meeting room and saw that nearly everyone was already there. He sat next to Dearka as Rau stood in front of everyone. As soon as everyone was seated, the screen showed a picture of a massive colony far larger than the PLANTs or the O'Neil Cylinder type. It looked similar to the Stanford "Island 2" model.

"This is Avalon." Rau explained. "It's the largest colony built by NATO and the European Union. It serves as a key shipyard for the allied space forces. At 0900, we'll rendezvous with the 4th tactical space fleet and capture Avalon."

Even started talking as Athrun looked at the colony. The Avalon was known as the only known colony with a mass driver built into it. It was also one of the most well defended locations that belonged to the Allied Forces, since no attempt was made to take it.

"Our orders come directly from Defense Minister Patrick Zala. Pack your things and prepare for departure." The masked commander said.

_The Moon…_

The Icarus Squad flew past the beam blasts of a Laurasia-class and retaliated with their gatling guns. Liz looked at the damaged Icarus unit. "Loas, pull out. You're units been damaged."

"_Relax, Lieutenant. I can still…" _A round blasted through the damaged mobile armor and exploded.

"_Loas!" _

A few feet away, three black GINN HM types floated in formation, one of which had a sniper rifle with a smoking barrel. The leading machine was piloted by an orange haired woman with an eye patch and a single black eye. "Mars, Hilbert. Assume Delta Formation."

"_Roger!" _The male pilots said as the three mono-eyed machines blasted ahead. The three mobile armors stopped the GINNs and split up, trying to flank them from all sides. One unit fired its gun and destroyed the barrel of Mar's sniper rifle. He quickly recovered and fired his assault rifle, scratching the Icarus on its left side. Hilbert grabbed his assault rifle and did the same, but the EU mobile armor was too fast as it dodged with a series of spins. Hilda swung her bayonet and slashed off an engine of Wallace's unit. Suddenly, a red laser pierced through the neck section of a nearby Laurasia frigate, essentially beheading the ship. Hilda looked at the source of the laser and saw the Valiant retracting its Firebrand.

"It's a G-Weapon. Guys, think you can handle the mobile armors?" Hilda asked.

"_No sweat." _Mars said.

Hilda smirked and headed towards the former Astray.

The Valiant's sensors blared as Cassie spotted the GINN HM. She fired three shots but the enemy mobile suits dodged it with amazing speed. "It's fast." The young pilot stated as she activated the Twin Sword Rifle. The two bayonet weapons clashed as the pilots tried to overpower each other.

"It blocked a beam saber?"

"Looks like adding anti-beam coating was a good idea." Hilda stated as she backed away and fired at the Valiant which blocked the shots with its shield. The green & white mobile suit hovered over the lunar surface as she fired on the GINN. The mono-eyed mobile suit dodged the shots and fired back, taking out the Valiant's right eye.

"Damn!" Cassie yelled as the screen started to look fuzzy before readjusting. She only had seconds to dodge before the GINN sliced off her left leg. "What the hell?" She tossed bazooka in front of her and fired, creating a smokescreen from the resulting explosion. The Valiant's back thrusters ignited and flew through the smoke, clashing with the GINN's bayonet again. Hilda punched the Valiant in the chest, giving her some distance before shooting the TSR. With her main weapon damaged, Cassie tossed it and ignited her beam sabers. "It's just a GINN! You can't defeat me or my Gundam!"

"You've got some skills." Hilda said as she blocked the swings with her sword. "However…" The Valiant raised its arm above for a downward slash, but the GINN HM swung its bayonet in an arc and sliced off its hands, stunning Cassie. "You still have long way to go before becoming an ace!" Hilda fired on the green Gundam, hitting its chest and causing several small explosions around the suit. In the cockpit, sparks and wires flew as Cassie tried to readjust.

"No, I can't die here!" The ebony-haired pilot cried, a young woman's face appearing in her mind. "Not until ZAFT pays!" She fired her CIWS in desperation, taking out the GINN's mono-eye. A series of linear blasts forced Hilda to dodge as the Moebius Zero closed in.

"_I'm not letting you take anyone else from me!" _Mu yelled.

Hilda gritted her teeth as a message appeared on her side screen. "We're retreating?" She looked at her radar and saw that all three of the Nazca-class ships were sunk, only three Laurasias were still standing and the NATO forces only lost a Nelson and two Drake-class ships. "Crap." The black GINN flew away as Mu positioned the Zero in front of the Valiant. The Hawk of Endymion was surprised by the amount of damage the Gundam took. "Slade, are you alright? Slade, respond." He saw a feed for the cockpit. Cassie had her head down and her body was shaking. The blond lieutenant gave a sigh of relief.

As the ZAFT forces retreated, Hilda regrouped with Mars and Hilbert, their GINNs seen with some damage.

"_We didn't manage to shoot down those mobile armors. Those bastards are tough." _Hilbert stated.

"It's alright." The one-eyed pilot thought back to what her enemy said. "Gundam. I hope you'll improve next time."

In the cockpit of the Valiant, Cassie's eyes watered as she saw her mobile suits hands floating in front of her. "Damn it!" She cried as she banged on the walls.

**As the Mjolnir Corps get some much needed shore leave at Copernicus City, Cassandra looks back at her first major defeat since piloting the Valiant. Meanwhile, ZAFT launches an attack to capture Avalon, the main space colony and shipping yard of the allied forces. However, the defenders of the colony won't go down without a fight. **

**Next time: Defiance**

**Protect your comrades with your very life, Gundam!**


	14. Chapter 14

_Phase 14: Defiance_

_ZAFT Fleet, 1500 feet from Avalon..._

The ZAFT fleet consisted of the Vesalius, the Gamow and the Misfit along with three more Laurasia frigates and one Nazca. On the Vesalius, Athrun was going over the final checks for the Aegis while contemplating on why his father would order something like this. While Avalon was an important military target, ZAFT never authorized an attack due to the reported high defense measures NATO and the EU put in place. Many soldiers around the fleet believed this would be their last mission. Even with the four stolen G-Weapons, Miguel, Alex and Commander Le Creuset out in the fight, it was still a bit of a long shot.

"_Something troubling you, Athrun?" _The blue-haired coordinator snapped out of his daze and saw the commander on the screen.

"Just thinking about the mission sir."

"_That's understandable. It's all anyone's been talking about since we left Boaz. I myself was a little surprised that your father authorized this mission."_

"But it makes sense why he would authorize it. Taking Avalon would be dealing a major blow to the Allies. The only space bases they would have left after this are their Lunar HQ and Artemis." Athrun stated. "I just never thought I would be taking part in something like this."

"_You've never been in a battle of this magnitude. Just stay calm and work together with the rest of your team."_

"Thank you commander." Athrun said as he cut of the feed.

In the cockpit of his CGUE, Rau brought up two maps on his side screens. "Operations Snowfall, Spitbreak and the raid on Avalon. It looks like the council is finally taking this war seriously."

_JOSH-A..._

In the mobile suit lab, several technicians were looking over video footage from various battles. After they found out about the hacker attack, the head generals ordered that all construction data of the previous G-Series be deleted from their data banks and put together a task force to come up with new mobile weapon ideas to replace the original series. This task force had been working for three days and so far had nothing.

"What if we took the mobile armor form of the X-303 and omit the transformation feature?"

"It would be too expensive to mass-produced and would only work in space. The big guys want an all-terrain mobile suit."

"But it is a good idea, write that down."

"How about we just mass-produced the Skygrasper project?"

"And fight our enemies with jets? Next!"

"Maybe a new model built for anti-beam combat?"

"Write it down!"

"Hey guys, come look at this!" One of the technicians yelled. The rest the task force gathered around the desktop and saw footage of the Archangel's upgraded Minutemen fighting against the Aegis, the Strike Gundam attaching its Launcher Striker and Valiant dodging a GINN's missiles before firing back.

"People, I think we're onto something."

_Copernicus City..._

The Mjolnir Corps docked their ships into the harbor as the traffic control clamped the ships in place. On the Archangel, Murdoch groaned as he looked up at the wrecked Valiant. "Well this might take a while."

"It might take a little while longer." Zeke said as he handed him a pad with weapon schematics. Murdoch noticed that Zeke was in his black t-shirt and jean shorts instead for his work clothes.

"You got a date?" The older mechanic teased.

"Actually yes. Admiral Halberton is giving us some shore leave for the next few days. The pilots and operators are headed into town. You wanna come with us?"

"I'd honestly stay here and work."

"Suit yourself." Zeke said as Haro flapped his ears and followed him.

"_Bye bye!" _

Zeke walked until he saw the Heliopolis crew, Gale, Luke and Cassandra in their civilian clothing. Gale wore an opened shortsleeve gray jacket with a black undershirt with jeans, Luke wore a red baggy sweater with cargo shorts and Cassie wore a purple blouse with jeans and white sandals.

"Hey Kira, didn't you use to live here?" Tolle asked.

"Yeah, its been awhile." The young coordinator said as Birdy landed on his shoulder.

_Tachyon Shipyards, 50 feet from Copernicus city..._

The Dallas and the Menelaos docked at the shipyard. Manchester looked out his window and saw a few Dallas-class ships and several new ships that looked like the Nelson-class but with more weapons and some kind of tunnels on the sides. Once the tunnels clamped to the sides of the ship, Chester, Sosuke and Gaius floated through as a group of scientists welcome them.

"Gentlemen, welcome back."

_Avalon..._

The alarms in the control room blared as the ZAFT fleet appeared on their radar. "ZAFT fleet approaching! Mark 20, Delta Bravo.

"We're being hailed by the flagship." A comm officer said.

"Bring it on the main screen." The commander ordered. The screen showed Rau Le Creuset with a calm expression.

"_Greeting Avalon. This Rau Le Creuset of the ZAFT special forces. I'd like to you offer you a proposition." _

"And what would that be?" The commander asked.

"_I'm sure you're aware of what happened to Heliopolis?" _Rau asked.

"Your point?"

"_It's quite simple. You can surrender control of the colony to us, or me and my comrades will take it by force. And if that happens, I fear Avalon will share Heliopolis' fate." _The masked man said. _"You have an hour to respond. Choose wisely." _And with that the screen turned blank.

"Commander, what's our next course of action?" The XO asked.

"Have the construction teams finished the MAC?"

"Yes sir. They completed construction four hours ago."

"Good. Then tell the 9th and 10th Armed Defense force and the Sentry to standby." She said as she stood up from his chair. "Send out the first wave of defense to engage the enemy fleet. I want all defenses armed and ready. Get the MAC into position and clear the mass driver of any ships. Let's show ZAFT what we're made of!"

"Sir, yes sir!" The officers replied.

Eight Drakes and four Nelsons detached from the colony and made way towards the enemy. Forty mobile armors launched from the Nelsons and blasted towards the ZAFT fleet. These mobile armors were not Zeroes or Icarus units, in fact they looked like a machine that was once the pride of NATO's federal space forces. They were a dark purple color and had what looked like padded armor on the top. Most of them were armed with gatling guns and missiles while a few had some kind of folded device where the linear cannon would be.

"Forty units launching from the defense fleet." The radar officer on the Vesalius reported. "They're mobile armors."

"Can you identify which type?" Adas asked.

"I checking right now." An officer said he looked through ZAFT's database until he found one that matched. "Match confirmed. TS-MA2 Moebius."

"They're sending Moebius units to fight us?" This left Adas stumped. The Moebius was an outdated model that was retired after NATO command realized how outclassed they were against the GINN. Why would they use such weak fighters to defend one of their most vital spaceports?

"Well this should be entertaining." Rau said with an amused smirk. "Tell the Lacony team to launch ahead."

The catapults of a Laurasia opened up and six GINNs launched ahead. The lead pilot spotted the mobile armors and smirked. "Too easy."

"_Bora Squad, stay in the rear. Deploy only when ZAFT launches the G-Weapons." _The lead pilot ordered.

"_Roger Zephyr One." _Ten units with the folded objects stopped as the other thirty continued onward.

"_When I give the word, I want all units to fire two missiles each at the enemy." _The distance between the two groups closed in. 50 meters. 40 meters. 30 meters.

"_Fire now!" _

The thirty Moebius units fired their gray missiles at the mobile suits. The ZAFT pilots were prepared to shoot them down, but each missile broke apart and revealed six smaller missiles. The small warheads fired and impacted with the greencoats. When the smoke cleared, only two GINNs were still functioning but damaged.

"_What the hell?" _

"_It's just a new missile. Take them down!" _The two machines blasted forward, making the mobile armors split up. One pilot picked a Moebius and decided to use a move he once saw in a military film. The GINN stepped on Moebius, but it's feet were suddenly consumed in a small explosion and pushed him back. The Moebius turned around fired, tearing the GINN apart with its 75mm shells. The last unit chased after a Moebius which dodged its shots with surprising agility. The thrusters on the Moebius turned towards the front, and with a burst of speed it was suddenly behind the GINN, shooting its thrusters and causing the unit to explode.

"Lacony team has been destroyed!"

"Impossible!" Adas yelled. "They're Moebius units. We used to slaughter them when the war began."

"Enemy fleet is now launching mobile suits." Minutemen and Minutemen Weapons detached from the Drakes and followed the Moebius units.

"It looks like the Allies have updated their old mobile armors. And those missiles looked like the one from Zelman's report but on a smaller scale." Rau stated. "Launch all of mobile suits including the G-Weapons. Looks like this won't be as easy as we thought."

The GINNs launched from the other warships with the G-Weapons and the custom units.

"As usual, the Crucible sits back while the rest of us do the fighting." Alex said. "CGUE Asura, launching." The red and black machine burst ahead.

The two groups meet and the stars shined from the lights of the battle. A Minutemen Weapon fired its railcannon at GINN which destroyed one of its arms. A GINN fired a rocket, hitting a Moebius dead on. Three mobile armors ganged up on a CGUE and tore it new one with their gatling guns. A GINN fired on a Minutemen, but it blocked the shots as it closed in. With a swing from its heat saber, the GINN was sliced in half.

The Buster combined its weapons into the beam sniper rifle and fired, but the Moebius spun out of the way and fired. Unfortunately, the shots did nothing against the phase shift and Dearka shot down the mobile armor.

Athrun ignited the beam sabers on his wrist and swung at a Minuteman. The NATO machine dodged and swung back with its heat saber. The super-heated weapon actually left a nasty cut in the Aegis' shoulder but the red machine blew it away with a barrage of green beams.

Nicol fired his rocket anchor at a Moebius. The claw clamped onto the top, but the reactive armor blew it away and the Moebius escaped.

A Minuteman fired its machine gun at the Duel, but the blue and grey machine dodged it and destroyed it in three shots. "This is almost too easy." Yzak arrogantly stated.

A few meters below, Bora squad turned their mobile armors upwards as they spotted the G-Weapons.

"_Enemy mobile suits confirmed as Duel, Buster, Blitz and Aegis."_

The objects underneath their canopies folded into long-barreled cannons. Lights started to shine from the barrels.

"_Targets marked. Open fire!" _Ten beam cannons fired simultaneously at the enemies above. The blasts damaged the Buster's left arm, the Blitz's torso, the Aegis' right leg and the Duel's right hand.

"What the hell?" Nicol asked as the mobile armors keep firing from below, barraging the ZAFT forces in green energy.

_Copernicus city..._

As the crew entered the city, everyone split up and agreed to meet around dinner time. Sai and Tolle were dragged by their girlfriends to go shopping, Mu and Luke hit on women, Takashi and Mikeva hit the arcade, Kira, Kuzzey and Luke went to a movie. When Zeke and Cassie were alone, the mobile suit was surprised when the engineer asked her out on a date. The two of them were enjoying lunch at a cafe. Cassie was happily eating pasta while Zeke was drinking some coffee.

"You really like Italian, don't you?" Zeke asked.

"You bet!" Cassie said as she started cutting some more. "The food on the Archangel's okay, but military cooks can't beat genuine cuisine."

"I know, and coffee doesn't taste the same in a zero-g container." The brown-haired coordinator said as he took a sip.

Cassie looked at him and smirked. "So why did you just decide to ask me out?"

"Can't I take a friend of mine out for lunch?" He countered with another question.

"To be honest, I always thought you techies were more interested in machinery than people."

"Just like how most people think soldiers are testosterone filled gun-toting idiots?"

The two of them laughed at their banter. "All joking aside, I actually want to get to know you better."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know about Cassandra Slade the pilot but I want to know about Cassie Slade the person."

Cassie thought for a moment before she went back to cutting her pasta. "There's not much to know about me. I was born on Earth, New York to be exact. My father is an insurance salesman and my mother is a kindergarten teacher. But my sister, she was a soldier."

"Really?"

"Yup. She enlisted in 62 and became an amazing Spearhead pilot. She used to call me whenever she would get the chance and told me about all the amazing places she had been too. She even found a boyfriend in the same unit. Nice guy, and a tank commander at that." During her explanation, Zeke noticed the far off look in her eyes and the fact that she kept using the past tense to refer to her.

"So I guess she's what inspired you to join the military." He said trying to change the subject.

"Actually, I originally wanted to travel the colonies after high school. But then the war started up, and I felt I had to do my part."

"Then you're braver than me. I can build weapons, but I don't the courage to use them."

"Well to be honest, a lot of the times when I enter the cockpit of a mobile suit, there's a part of me that believes that maybe I won't make it back."

This took the engineer by surprise. Ever since he meet her at Heliopolis, the ebony-haired pilot always seemed brave and nearly fearless. She also knew she was capable of great anger when she pulled a gun on Natarle during the whole Lacus incident. He was also thinking about all the times he feared for his life whenever the Archangel went into combat. He remembered how he sucked up that fear because he knew their were people counting on him. Then it occurred to him that this must be how every crew member on the Archangel felt. Hell, most of the soldiers from NATO and ZAFT probably felt a small sense of fear once in awhile. Even ones like Mu La Flaga, who never showed signs of being afraid.

"I guess that's just the human condition." Zeke said as he sipped his coffee again.

_Avalon, three hours and twelve minutes into the battle..._

Miguel tapped on his console as he waited for the maintenance crew to finish resupplying his GINN. So far the battle was going their way, having broken through the first line of defense at the cost of thirty-six mobile suits and two Laurasias. Thankfully, a fleet of six ships and their mobile suits from Jachin Due had arrived to help them out. Currently, they were in the middle of breaking through the second line of defense and then the would have to deal with Avalon's built in defenses.

"_You're all set to go Aiman." _

"Thanks. Time to rock!" The orange GINN walked towards the catapult and launched a head. He immediately saw the Buster blasting the bridge of a Drake. The Bullet admitted that while the Allies were nearly equal with them in mobile suit technology, their warships left a lot to be desired. The Archangel and its one-legged version to be the exception. His radar spotted a split-missile approaching him. He fired his leg missiles as the missile broke open and the projectiles collided with each other. He blasted through the smoke and opened fire on a Minuteman.

Meanwhile, four Minutemen were moving a weapon that looked like a giant rifle barrel into position above the colony.

"_High-explosive shell loaded. Charge at 93%. 148 seconds until firing." _

The mobile suits stopped as they approached their designation and spread out in a defensive perimeter.

"_96%." _

In the command station, the gunner targeted a Nazca.

"_98%" _

He tapped his fingers in anticipation.

"_100%." _

"_Firing MAC!" _The gunner yelled as he pulled the trigger.

The cannon fired a blast similar to a linear cannon but on a much larger scale. The projectile hit the Nazca, which burst in an explosion of gears and fire.

The crew of the Vesalius and the Le Creuset pilots were shocked for the upteenth time today. First the updated Moebius units, a few with beam weapons and now the Allies had some new type of anti-fleet cannon. After twenty minutes of continued fighting, the MAC fired another shot and destroyed a Laurasia, taking three GINNs with it thanks to the shrapnel.

Rau grit his teeth, clearly become less amused as the battle continued. "Are the Assault components fully equipped to my CGUE?" He asked a green coat.

"They'll be ready in ten minutes."

"Good. Send a message to the Blitz. Tell Nicol to take out that weapon." The masked man said as he headed for the hangar.

"Commander, in a battle this chaotic, there's a good the Blitz could be shot down even if it uses the Mirage Colloid." Adas replied.

"Then I guess we'll have to think of something else."

In the Avalon control room, the commander looked over the battle. It seemed that ZAFT would break through the second line even with the MAC firing on them. She turned on a small screen on her chair and showed a old man in the NATO uniform. "Sentry, you have permission to launch."

The elder captain saluted. _"Thank you commander. We'll mobilize right away." _

Alex spun his machine gun pods and fired, taking out two mobile armors and a Minuteman. He broke the line of defense and saw another hangar opening on Avalon. The MAC fired and destroyed another Laurasia, but the Dragon of Nova waited from some reinforcements to catch up with him. When he saw the ship that left the hangar, a chill went down his spine as memories flashed in his mind.

_Images of a Nazca being destroyed by anti-ship torpedoes, GINNs being blasted apart by large beams and turret fired. He remembered destroy the bridge but the ship kept fighting like a spirit refusing to pass on. _

The Vesalius picked up the feed from the CGUE Asura and froze at what they were seeing. The crew members recently graduated from the academy had heard of this ship and prayed they would never have to fight it. Adas had fought a ship like that before and still couldn't believe he took one of those down a year earlier.

The ship was longer and bulkier than a Nazca-class. A trio of three-barreled cannons were mounted on its gray bow with one behind the bridge tower. The front of the ship had ten holes meant to fire torpedoes. Twenty CIWS were mounted on either side of the bridge. On the side of the ship were two words written in black paint.

_**EFS-Sentry**_

A year after the first recorded deployment, Alex Gables had come face-to-face with a _Cavill-class _destroyer. A ship he hoped he would never have to face again.

**Next time: Stand or Fall**

**See into the future, Gundam!**

**You didn't think ZAFT have it as easy as it did in the show? $*^# no! Not on my watch! I'll give you the specs on the Cavill-class and the MAC in the next chapter and I'll give you the specifications for the key mobile armor from this chapter. **

**Model number: TS-MA2K**

**Codename: Moebius Kai**

**Unit type: Mass-Produced Improved Mobile Armor**

**Manufacturer: Weston Industries**

**Operator: Earth Alliance**

**First deployment: C.E. 71**

**Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit**

**Dimensions: unknown**

**Weight: unknown**

**Armor materials: unknown**

**Powerplant: ultracompact energy battery, power output rating unknown**

**Propulsion: Jets**

**Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown, reactive armor, swivel boosters.**

**Fixed armaments: 2x 40mm Vulcan Guns**

**Optional Fixed armaments: 70mm Gatling Gun, Folding Beam Cannon, 4x Split-Missiles, Bunker Buster**

**Technical and Historical Notes:**

**While the Moebius Zero and Icarus were powerful mobile armors in their own right, they lacked the raw firepower needed for fleet battles. And since the hack attack on JOSH-A delayed production of the GAT series, the EU contracted Weston to develop a new mobile armor. Using the once-great Moebius units, Weston analysed the major problems these had against mobile suits and updated them with modern tech. **

**The Moebius Kai is a major improvement from the old Moebius. One new feature is the reactive armor placed on the top of the unit, which can blast away any GINN that tries the old land and shoot maneuver. The second is the rotable thrusters, allowing the Moebius to make sudden stops and turns similar to the fighters jets of the 21st century. With new weapons such as a folding beam cannon, bunker buster warheads and split missiles, the Moebius Kai proved that even with the advent of the mobile suit, mobile armors will always have a place on the battlefield as the new Kai units matched the GINNs and CGUEs move for move. **

**Known Pilot(s): Many**

**Colors: Dark purple**

**Be sure to read and review! See Ya Later!**


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